SoulCaptor Sakura
by Eerie42
Summary: Sakura Kinomoto must capture the Clow Cards once again. This time, she must defeat the twisted souls known as Kishin created by the DWMA's newest enemy, Clow Reed. CardCaptor Sakura now has a Soul Eater AU, 20 years after the defeat of Kishin Asura and the Battle on the Moon. Rated M for possible future content. Subject to change.
1. Prologue: The Future

AN: After waiting so long to write fanfiction, this is my first attempt. I wanted to do this sort of continuation; show things that happened after the Battle on the Moon, and then it turned into this. Enjoy!

* * *

Maka's not used to having these sorts of dreams. Even in her 30 years of living, she's never had a dream like this. It's the first dream she's ever remembered in a long time, and the last dream she remembered was when she was sixteen.

Sixteen years old. She was in the black blood room, despite it being gone after defeating Asura. She had reached out to Soul. As they danced, they had melted together. Into the black blood. Two souls now in one body. The day after that dream, Soul had told her he loved her.

She'll never forget that day.

Thirty years old. This dream was more cryptic. A girl stood before her. She held, what looked like, a small toy wand in her hand. It was pink, with a bird's head on top of it. The girl herself seemed to be around thirteen or so, auburn hair cut short with small sections in pigtails. Emerald green eyes, that seemed to match Maka's in intensity, stared up at her and a smile graced her lips. The girl ran off. Without thinking, Maka decided to follow her.

As Maka followed the little girl, smoke came into full view, and she lost sight of the girl and her wand. Maka stopped to try to catch her breath, but it proved to be difficult with the smoke.

The wisps of cloudy air circled her, changed into different colors, and a form began to appear. A woman. Made of smoke. A strange headdress across her forehead.

She pointed ahead, and Maka began running in that direction. As she ran, there was some sort of desperation in her steps. Like a disaster would occur if she didn't hurry.

She didn't know this little girl, so why was it so important to find her?

The smoke cleared to reveal a morose scene. The girl was on her knees, crying. Her wand was gone, but another girl, possibly the same age, lay before her. The girl had long, beautiful jet black hair, that kinked at the bottom, and her eyes were closed. Blood spilled beneath a black dress, stained the weeping girl's white one.

All Maka could do was reach out to the sad girl, hoping to comfort her. Before she could touch her shoulder. The girl turned around to face her.

She was also hurt. Bleeding profusely from a wound in her chest, tears continued to fall from her face as she collapsed to the floor. Maka caught her quickly, and laid her down gently. She laid the girl on her back, letting her head rest in Maka's lap. The girl's eyes were closed now, cheeks stained with tears. Maka could've sworn the wound in the girl's chest was from a blade of some sort.

A knife. No. A scythe.

Maka looked up to see a dark, obscured figure before them. The figure's shadow swallowed the dark-haired girl before approaching Maka and her emerald-eyed companion.

Silence passed, as Maka clutched the girl in her arms, as a caring mother holds their child. An arm from the figure rose and smoke around him twisted until a golden scythe as bright as the sun appeared in his hand.

She couldn't move. Her heart leaped in her stomach as she sat stiff on the ground. The golden blade raised above her head.

It swung down, and Maka awakened.

* * *

Heart beating, body covered in sweat, the 30-year-old Maka Albarn, now Maka Albarn-Evans, sat up in bed to catch her breath. The covers became so unbearable that she kicked them off in frustration, rubbing her face, trying to make sense of what she saw.

While she didn't notice, a snowy-haired, red-eyed man stirred from his slumber and sat up to look at the woman next to him. Concerned, he leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Bad dream?" he asked, snuggling into her neck, as she let her arms drop to her sides. He pulled her close, and she fell into his embrace.

"I don't…think so," she replied with a heavy sigh, "Just a weird one."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I don't know how to describe it."

"Was it Crona again?"

Maka stared at her partner, somewhat confused.

"You've had nightmares about Crona before," he said. Oh yeah, she did. She had somehow forgotten them.

"Nah, no Crona. Just…people I didn't know."

"Really? That's weird."

"Yeah, they were…I dunno…thirteen? Fourteen tops?"

"Maybe you're just anxious about the first day of teaching tomorrow," he concluded, sounding a bit more relaxed than before.

"Soul, I've been teaching here for, what, five years now? Same goes for you."

"Yeah, I know."

"So why the hell would I be nervous about a bunch of new kids?" she smirked, "You know me better than that."

Her weapon sighed, "Yeah, I know. I just figured...something was wrong so…"

As he rubbed the back of his head, Maka smiled. He was just worried about her. Some things never change. She leaned into _his_ should now, her hand reaching behind to rub his back.

"I'm fine, Soul," she assured him.

"Well, then, what was so weird about your dream?"

"I dunno. I didn't know these kids but…it felt kind of…familiar, like I'm supposed to know them."

"Like one of those future dreams…or something like? What's the word?"

"Precognitive."

"Right, right. That's right."

Maka sat up, looking out the window beside their bed. A black orb encircled the once smiling moon outside. The stars covered the night sky like diamonds.

"Everything's been so calm, and yet…I feel like something bad's going to happen," she thought aloud, and then she fell back onto the bed with a thud. Soul looked down at her in silence, and then flopped down as well.

"Well," he finally breathed out, "I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle…"

Maka looked over at her partner. Her weapon. Soul Eater Albarn-Evans. He gave her his signature grin that she loved so much, and any doubts she may have had disappeared as she gave a light laugh.

"Right?" he said, pulling her in for an embrace. She looked him straight in the eye.

"Yeah, you're right."

The gazes softened, and their lips met, if only for a brief moment, before falling back to sleep.

Maka still couldn't forget that dream, as it played over and over in her mind. While she was calmer than before, a preconceived dread had already taken root.

Something terrible was coming, and Maka made sure that she prepared the new students for the coming year ahead.


	2. Chapter 1: Reunion

AN: And now for the real main character for our story!

* * *

Her heart beat to a rhythm she wasn't familiar to, yet it gave her the energy she needed as she reached the final step. She stopped for only a short second to catch her breath as she turned around to see all of the millions of steps she just climbed. Even though it was her first day, she was used to rigorous physical activity back when she was a cheerleader at her old school in Japan.

"Yes!" she cried out in pride, "Finally made it to the top!"

As she looked up, she saw all of Death City glowing in the hot desert sun smiling down on her. The view alone took her breath away more than the stairs leading up here, to her disbelief. All she could do was smile.

"So…this is Death City," she breathed. She dusted her skirt of her given school uniform, a sailor suit like her uniform back home, only the tie seemed to look like a skull, and it was all black and white.

The young, teenaged girl forced herself to turn her back on the amazing view to face the building behind her. A large, castle like structure with three skulls around it with large candles hanging off the side graced her eyes. Her smile widened.

"I think I'm going to like it here!" she said to herself as she walked into the building for the first time.

* * *

Three months before, a bowl floated into the air from the kitchen table and landed with a crash onto the floor. She hadn't even touched it. Her brother had made some sort of joke, calling her a monster. He knew she hated that. He only did it to tease her.

It didn't stop the bowl from floating and crash to the wooden floor, noodles and vegetables splaying everywhere. It also didn't stop her brother from seeing.

"Sakura, what the he- … what did you do?!"

"I-I didn't do anything!"

They stared at the remnants of her dinner on the floor. Sakura, the young girl, looked terrified. Her brother, Touya, looked concerned.

"You don't think it was a…a gh- …a gho-," she stuttered.

"No, definitely not," he assured her, "I would've saw something."

There was a pause.

"What are we gonna do, big bro?"

"I dunno," Touya sighed, as he grabbed a broom and dust pan and started cleaning up the mess. Sakura tried to help, but he just shooed her away from the broken ceramic.

"Has this happened before, kiddo?" he asked, looking up at her. She looked almost too scared to say, but she nodded.

"You didn't want me or dad to know, right?"

She nodded again.

"I won't tell dad," he said as he threw the pieces into the trash using the dust pan. Sakura had a small look of relief on her face.

"But we _are_ going to have to do something, okay?" he added, and she nodded quickly in reply.

"I've been…trying to find something that might help," she finally replied. She motioned her brother to stay where he was as she ran to grab something out of her school bag. She came back with a pamphlet in her hand. It read:

"Death Weapon Meister Academy: Training the Young and Gifted"

Touya gently snatched it from her hands and looked over it. It said it now catered to the training and nuturing of witches, whatever the hell that meant.

"What do you think?" she enquired, and he looked up from the brochure.

"Where'd you find this?"

"It was in the school counselor's office, strange enough. It just…stuck out to me, I guess."

Touya handed the brochure back to her and sighed.

"We should think of what to tell dad…" she thought out loud.

"Don't worry, I'll think of something," he answered and he looked her in the eye. She gave him a gentle smile, a glint of hope in her emerald green eyes.

"You just focus on school for now, you little monster," he teased as he roughed up her auburn hair and walked back into the kitchen to dish up another bowl of noodles for dinner.

"I'M NOT A MONSTER!" she yelled, as she stomped after him. Once the dark-haired young man dished her a new bowl, he set it on top of her head.

"Well, you _are _pretty tiny for a monster," he pondered aloud, as she flailed about in anger at his teasing antics. He handed her the bowl, roughed up her hair again, and they continued their dinner like nothing happened.

Three months ago turned into two, as Touya discussed with his dad in the living room one night.

"She's been invited to this special school?" his dad asked.

"Yeah, they sent us this brochure in the mail a while ago. Came with a letter to," Touya lied, holding up the brochure and a forged letter he made himself.

"But what about all her friends at school? Won't she miss them?"

"Well, yeah, what kid wouldn't? Still, Sakura talked with some of her friends about it. Gave her all these hugs and addresses. Told her to write them everyday. All that mess. If anything, they were the ones that kinda encouraged her to go."

This was kind of true. When Sakura talked with her best friend, Tomoyo, the young lady practically begged Sakura to take the opportunity. The reasons why remained a mystery.

"And Sakura's okay with this?"

"Well, yeah."

"Why don't we bring her in here and ask her?"

Touya nodded submissively and turned his head over his shoulder.

"HEY KIDDO! DAD WANTS TO TALK TO YA!"

Sakura ran into the room with a spring in her step and sat next to her father on the couch, landing on it with a thud.

"Hey dad!" she chirped.

"Hey sweetheart, your brother tells me that you got invited to a prestigious school."

She nodded in agreement. She didn't want to tell her dad that she submitted an application to the school. It wasn't for any good grades, like most schools, or even any athletic achievements. Those didn't matter. She was some sort of witch, as the school liked to call it, and she needed to figure out how to control it. She wanted things to stop floating absently when her mind wandered or when she got emotional. She wanted to stop feeling like forces were watching her she didn't know. She wanted to stop having dreams about the future, however mundane they were.

She just wanted to feel a little bit more normal. She wanted to be herself again.

After a short silence, her father finally spoke.

"You can go, but only if your brother goes with you."

Touya looked up in surprise.

"I read that you have to live by yourself or with a roommate, and I don't want you to be in a strange city by yourself. That's the only thing. Are you okay with that, Touya?"

There was a pause.

"Sure," he sighed, "I don't have too many friends anyways."

"What about Tsukishiro?" their father enquired.

"Yuki?" Touya replied, "He left school a long while ago. We keep in touch still, so it's not like I'll stop sending snail mail and phone calls or whatever."

"Well, I guess it's settled then."

"Really?" Sakura beamed.

"Yes, you can go."

Sakura hopped off the couch, hugged and kissed her father and brother, and ran up to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Her room was empty, with only a few clothes and school uniforms out, and her comforter still on her bed. A computer say on her desk, her e-mail account open, a message from the DWMA thanking her for choosing their school and hoping to see her in two months. All of her belongings that she could fit were in one large trunk and two large rolling suitcases.

Sakura flopped on the bed and grabbed her cell phone, a special one her friend had given her from her friend's mother's company.

She dialed her friend immediately.

"Hello, Daidouji residence," a sweet, sing-song voice replied on the line.

"Hi Tomoyo!"

"Sakura! How'd it go?"

"Dad said yes! I'm going to the Academy!"

"That's fantastic!"

"I know! I had to tell you."

"I'm so happy for you, Sakura."

She sounded happy, but Sakura was sure she was hiding the fact that she was probably sad that her friend was leaving.

"I'm going to miss you, Tomoyo," she said, dripping with sincerity.

Silence.

"I'll see you soon, Sakura," Tomoyo said as she quickly hung up the phone. Sakura looked down at the small device in confusion before getting ready for bed.

_"I'll see you soon, Sakura."_

* * *

She never did explain what she meant by that, and Sakura continued to ponder over it as she looked for the front desk. Other students began wondering around, chatting excitedly.

When she found the front desk, she noticed a familiar face. A young man, with silver hair and golden brown eyes smiled at her and waved. Her face reddened with surprise.

"Yukito?!"

"Hello, Sakura-chan! What are you doing here?" the young man replied.

"I-um…I…" she stammered. She hadn't seen Yukito in so long. She heard he was going away to a new school, but she didn't expect it to be _this_ school.

"I…I could ask you the same thing…if…you know…that's alright…" she murmured looking away shyly.

"Well," he said with a small chuckle, "I trained here as a weapon, but I wasn't really qualified for battling purposes, so they put me in the N.O.T. class, and now I work here!"

"Wow…that's so cool," she said dreamily and then processed something…

"Wait…you're a weapon, Yukito?" she exclaimed.

"Why…yes! I'm a… shield weapon of some sort."

"Wow…"

"Are you going to school here now, Sakura-chan?"

He still remembered her name she now noticed. Her heart warmed a little.

"Ah…y-yeah."

"I see, are you a weapon or a meister?"

She looked at him in confusion. She was a witch, so to speak, so she didn't seem to fit any of those two categories.

"Umm…I don't know…"

"Can you turn into any sort of weapon shape?"

"Well…no…I don't think so."

Yukito seemed a little puzzled.

"Then, why are you coming here, Sakura-chan?"

"Um…well…"

She suppoed it wouldn't hurt to tell him.

"I think I'm a witch, as they described in the pamphlet," she answered, "And…well…they said they could help me, you know, control my powers."

A light bulb seemed to go off in Yukito's head.

"Ah, I see. Well, when you attend here, whether you're a 'witch' or not, you have to categorize yourself as either a meister or a weapon. There are some witches here that are meisters. Quite a few, actually. There are also a few that can turn into weapons now!"

Sakura sighed in relief.

"So, have you been able to transform any part of your body?" he asked, looking down at a piece of paper, "Any blades, sharp points, or anything metallic?"

Sakura shook her head.

"I see, then that means you're a meister!" he chirped, bending down behind the desk, and flipping through a file drawer.

"Let's see…you should be under 'new students'….aHA! Here we go!"

He opened a file on the desk that had her information and picture inside. She leaned in and read:

_Name: Sakura Kinomoto_

_ Age: 13_

_ Birthday: April 1__st__ XXXX_

_ Blood Type: O-_

_ Hair: Auburn; brunette_

_ Eyes: Green_

_ Previous Residence: Tokyo, Japan; Tomoeda district_

_ Previous Education: Tomoeda Middle School_

_ Status: Witch_

_ Powers: N/A_

_ Meister/Weapon: __

_ Partner: __

_ E.A.T. / N.O.T. __

_ …_

The rest of the file had writing in it that she couldn't read, as Yukito seemed to dig for some other items.

When he came back up, he had a stamp in his hand. On the first empty blank line listed, he stamped the word MEISTER on it, in think red ink. He then closed the file and placed it in a small pile on the desk.

"There you go! And also, here's this." He handed her a small, plastic name tag that read MEISTER in bold, black letters.

"Okay, you're all checked in!" he said.

"Thank you!" she beamed, her cheeks glowing pink as he smiled at her.

"Oh, is your brother here?" he asked.

"Oh, well, yes and…no. He's not…attending here, but he's staying here with me, so I'm not living by myself and stuff!"

Yukito looked down, a small smile on his face.

"Really…"

There was a pause.

"Well, tell him later I said hello!"

"Okay, I will! He still needs to recover from when he was carrying our stuff to the apartment yesterday."

"Oh really?" he laughed, "He carried his things AND yours?"

"Yup! I couldn't carry it all by myself," she shrugged, a little embarrassed, and Yukito chuckled. Sakura merely blushed and looked away, smiling to herself.

"Well, I better get back to work! You take care Sakura-chan, and good luck finding a weapon partner!"

"Thanks, Yukito," she grinned and ran off.

That's right, she needed to find a weapon partner. She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, read it, and ran down one of the many hallways ahead of her.

* * *

It took a lot of time, but eventually, Sakura found the right classroom. It was a small room, with no desks, and there were a few students inside. A good number, but not enough to be crowded.

There were so many unique people, she noticed. So many people of different skin tones and hair styles. Some of them were transforming into weapons before her very eyes. One kid, a Middle-Eastern young boy, turned himself into a hatchet. Other one, a small African girl, turned into a large hammer. A tall, Caucasian, blonde woman turned into a whip, and one man of Hispanic origin turned into a saber.

It was all so overwhelming, and Sakura had to step to the side. She took a moment and pinned her MEISTER tag onto her uniform. Then, from behind, a large figure appeared and Sakura slowly turned around, feeling his presence on her back. It was a man, or at least she thought he was. However, he was blue. His jaw was large, and his hair was put in long dregs. Despite his seemingly old age and waning figure, he wore a baggy, basketball uniform. He also emitted a stench that smelled like he was rotting.

Sakura jumped back a little in surprise.

"Relax there, young lady," he finally said, "I ain't gonna hurt you. I may be scary lookin', but I can promise you I can be pretty chill. That the kind of man I was when I was alive."

Sakura stared dumbfounded. This was a zombie. A…surprisingly friendly zombie, and not like those scary ones on TV.

Sakura relaxed a little and shyly stuck out her hand.

"I'm…um…Sakura," she wavered, "What's your name?"

"Name's Sid, young lady," he replied, gripping her hand in a firm handshake, "Pleasure to meet you!"

He smiled warmly at her, and she smiled back.

"I'll be one of your teachers here," he continued, looking down at her tag.

"So you're a meister?"

"Um…yes, sir!"

"Okay, good, I need to go pair up with a weapon. You don't need to decide right away. Just take your time. No rush."

Sakura nodded and looked around the room again. She waved back to Sid, before wondering around. It seemed that many people had already paired off. She wished she could pair with Yukito, possibly, since he _was _a weapon, but that seemed unlikely. Maybe one day, but not for right now.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, there was someone sitting alone. A boy. He wore casual green clothes and was leaning against the far corner of the room. His hair was as dark as the brown soil of the earth. His eyes, while she couldn't see them too well, were a reddish color, more brown than red though.

He seemed stern, but there was something telling her to walk over and talk to him. It couldn't hurt, and Sakura certainly was one who liked to greet people.

As she approached this mysterious boy, he started to turn his head towards her. He raised an eyebrow when she gave him a smile.

"Um…hi!" she blurted out.

"Hello…" he murmured.

There was an awkward silence between them before the boy spoke up again.

"What do you want?" he grimaced.

"Oh, um, well, I was…um…looking for a partner and…"

"Are you a weapon?"

"Well…no…"

"Then leave me alone."

So he was a meister too. Sakura sulked a little, but at least she got to meet a fellow meister, even if he _was _being a little rude.

She glanced down to see his tag. To her surprise, it read WEAPON in bold, black letters.

"Wait," she added as he cringed a little, "It says on your tag that you're a weapon…"

"They gave me the wrong one."

The wrong one? That didn't seem right. Considering all that Yukito had to do at the front desk to sign her in, that kind of mistake seemed unlikely to her.

"But…how…"

"Look, just leave me alone okay? I don't want to partner with a meister like you, got it?!"

Sakura was taken aback. He was clearly angry. What he was angry about wasn't too clear.

"But…we're all supossed to pair-" she started.

"I'M NOT A WEAPON!" he interrupted, "So GET LOST!"

"Syaoraaaann!" chirped a voice.

A young lady about Sakura's age lept onto the rude young man with such force that they both fell to the floor. Her hair was jet black and pulled up into buns with hair hanging from them like pigtails. Her eyes, Sakura noticed, were the same color as this weapon boy.

"I tried to get our tags changed, but the meanie guy at the desk wouldn't listen to me!" she whined as he squirmed in her grasp. The girl looked over, scanning Sakura up and down.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, uh, I'm…Sakura….Sakura Kinomoto…"

"You a meister?"

"Um…yes?"

"Hands off. He's _my_ partner, anyways."

Sakura went stiff.

"Name's Meiling Li," she answered, "and this," she added, hugging the boy in her arms even tighter, "Is Syaoran Li, my meister."

Sakura stared, feeling even more confused than ever. If she was a weapon, why did she where a tag that read MEISTER?

"They got our tags mixed up. I tried to change it so we could wear the right ones, but they wouldn't listen."

"Are you kidding me?" Syaoran exclaimed, "Why won't they change it?"

"Something about 'can't change who you really are blah blah blah. It didn't make a lick of sense to me."

"So, you're supposed to be a weapon?" Sakura asked Meiling.

"Yeah…well…I can't transform yet. But no biggie! That's why we're here!"

She hugged Syaoran more tightly as he tried to squirmed out of her grasp. Clearly, talking to them wasn't the best idea, and Sakura decided to just leave them be.

She decided to go by the window, where she noticed a person. It was a girl. Long, black hair, pooled and curled down her shoulders to the lower curve of her back, glowing a violet tint in the sunlight. Her back faced Sakura, as she seemed to be looking out the window. Though she couldn't see the front, Sakura could tell she was wearing a very elegant black dress with white frills and sleeves. Sakura decided to walk over to her, feeling like she'd seen this girl before. It wasn't the same feeling she got when she approached Syaoran, but it was definitely similar.

She tapped the girl's shoulder lightly, and she turned around. Her azure blue eyes looked at her in surprise, and then excitement graced her face. Sakura knew exactly who it was.

"TOMOYO!"

Sakura embraced her friend tightly, and Tomoyo did likewise. Warmth filled their vice-grip of a hug, and joy reverberated through every part of their body. When they released each other, they jumped up and down in excitement.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Sakura cried with jubilee.

"I know! It's good to see you here!"

"So…when you said you'd be seeing me soon…"

Tomoyo merely nodded and smiled serenely.

"But…why didn't you tell me?"

"I…guess I wanted it to be a surprise," her friend replied. She looked a little embarrassed. Then she looked at Sakura's tag and beamed.

"So you ARE a meister, aren't you?"

"Yup! What about you, Tomoyo?"

She pointed at the tag she pinned to the black bow on the collar of her dress. It read WEAPON. Sakura clapped in delight.

"AWESOME!" she exclaimed as she and Tomoyo gave each other a high-five.

"So, what kind of weapon are you supposed to be?" Sakura finally asked.

"You know…I'm not entirely sure," she admitted, "All I know is I can turn parts of my body into metallic shapes…sort of…"

"Really? I didn't know."

"I'm…sorry I didn't tell you…" Tomoyo frowned, "But now, I can finally show you!"

"OH GOOD! Can I see?! Please please?"

Tomoyo beamed and put her hands over her ears. A light glowed underneath, and when she uncovered them, they had changed. Her ears were now red disks with white metallic wings, one out of each side. The shined like a new car, and Tomoyo flicked her finger against one of them, making a hard, muted _tink_ noise.

"Whoa," Sakura marveled.

"I know, right?" Tomoyo answered, "I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to be though."

"Well, we'll figure it out, I'm sure!"

"Yes, I guess you're right."

Sakura gripped her friend's hand tightly, and they turned to face the front of the classroom, as Sid called for their attention.

Sakura didn't really notice, but Tomoyo's cheeks were flushed as she stared at her friend, holding her hand just a little bit tighter.


	3. Chapter 2: Circle

AN: OOO boy, here comes the plot. Dunno why I waiting so long to establish the conflict, but I digress. It's so good to be done with finals and to be writing this again.

This is the EDITED version of this chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

"GOOD MORNIN', NEWBIES! WELCOME TO THE DWMA! I AM YOUR GOD AND LEADER, THE GREAT AND MIGHTY **BLACK****«****STAR**!"

A bombastic man with teal, spiked hair and large arm muscles bared for all to see stood before the new students, yelling enthusiastically. Sakura noticed a star tattoo on his right shoulder with a scar splitting across it. She also noticed an attractive woman standing next to him, with jet black hair pulled into a high ponytail. She seemed embarrassed but kept a serene smile on her face. Sid sat in a chair with his arms crossed, shaking his head. The loud man, named Black«Star, continued.

"AS YOUR NEW GOD, I'M HERE TO PREPARE YA' FOR THE TRIALS AHEAD BEFORE YOU HEAD OFF TO YOUR CLASSES."

The beautiful woman with the serene tapped him gently on the shoulder and he stopped. He looked over at her, and his energetic demeanor seemed to relax.

"THIS IS TSUBAKI, MY LOVELY NEW WIFE AND BEST WEAPON IN THE WORLD," he continued as the woman named Tsubaki blushed violently, "SHE'S GONNA TELL YA WHAT TO DO! TAKE IT AWAY, BABE!"

Once she calmed herself down and chuckled a little, Tsubaki pulled out a piece of paper and began to speak in a voice that was soft but still clear, like a bell.

"Hello and welcome, new weapons and meisters! My name is Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. This is my meister and…husband…" she smiled, "Black«Star Nakatsukasa." Black«Star beamed with pride. Some students rolled their eyes. Tomoyo smiled, but Sakura wasn't sure what to make of them. She couldn't grasp why such a quiet and gentle woman was married to someone so…loud.

"We are your orientation instructors, and we will be helping you in determining what class of the school you need to fill," Tsubaki continued.

"There are two classes of fighters here for both meisters and weapons: E.A.T. and N.O.T. Normally Overcome Target students, or N.O.T.s, will train in the Academy to control their powers so they can blend with regular society and not harm others. Especially Advantaged Talent students, or E.A.T.s, will be training for the battlefield."

Students began to whisper among themselves excitedly. Syaoran Li raised his hand.

"Yes, young man!" Tsubaki pointed.

"What's the battle that E.A.T. students are training for, exactly?" he asked.

Tsubaki's smile faded for a short second before answering.

"The higher-ups are determining this. However, regardless if any threat exists," she breathed, "…we want our students to be prepared for anything."

Black«Star nodded, a semi-serious look on his face now. Sakura seemed to notice this, but tried not to dwell on it too much. She knew she was probably going into the N.O.T. class. Battles were the least of her worries.

"Now, in order to determine which class you need to be in, we're going to call you up here, pair by pair, to see where you stand in your abilities as weapons and meisters. This will give you all a chance to get to know each other, as well as learn from each other."

Sakura beamed at the prospect of this.

_ "There may be another witch here," _she thought, _"Maybe I can learn from them."_ Tomoyo noticed her friend's hopeful smile and the corners of her mouth turned up as well.

However, their attention turned to Syaoran and Meiling, who seemed to scoff at the idea. When Meiling chuckled, Black«Star and Tsubaki noticed and the whole room turned to look at them.

"Is there something funny, you two?" Tsubaki enquired.

Meiling cheeks went slightly pink, out of embarrassment. Syaoran took on a stone-faced demeanor.

"We're on a mission here, and we don't have time to make friends," he stated, matter-of-factly. Meiling looked at him, concerned, but she wouldn't argue against what he said. He was right, to a certain extent, in her eyes.

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME, PUNK?" Black«Star blurted, looking irritated.

"Syaoran Li," the cocky, young man answered.

"ALRIGHT, SYAORAN LI, YOU AND YOUR PARTNER GET UP HERE."

Syaoran stiffened before Meiling gave him rough punch to the back, and they both stepped in front of the two teachers.

"SINCE YOU TWO ARE SO CONFIDENT, YOU GET TO BE OUR FIRST PAIR," Black«Star announced.

"Black«Star, you really should learn to lower your voice just a bit," Tsubaki cooed.

"WELL, THE WHOLE CLASS SHOULD KNOW!"

"I know, but…"

Black«Star sighed.

"I know. There's a time for announcing be presence and a time to be in the shadows, right?" he replied.

"…well, yes, but there's a time…"she waited.

"…to be loud…"he groaned.

"…and a time to…?"

"…be quiet."

Tsubaki nodded. Syaoran and Meiling only stared in confusion.

"Okay, which one of you's the weapon?" Black«Star asked, looking at the two kids.

Meiling raised her hand. Tsubaki looked down at her MEISTER tag.

"Why do you have a meister tag, then?"

"They tagged us wrong at the front desk," Meiling replied, "I couldn't get it fixed."

Black«Star and Tsubaki looked at each other.

"I'm supposed to be the weapon," Meiling continued, "My aunt says it runs through our side of the family. But…I can't transform…"

"That's very common," Tsubaki interrupted quickly, as if trying to console her.

"…but I haven't shown any signs either…" Meiling added.

"Well, then you're probably not a weapon," Black«Star concluded.

"But-"

"Listen, I dunno who told you that you're still a weapon but…" Black«Star paused, looking at Syaoran, "It was this kid, wasn't it?"

Syaoran glared back at him, and Black«Star only glared back. Tsubaki seemed concerned, but didn't know how she should intervene. She turned her attention back to Meiling. She grabbed a folder, flipping through it to find the class roster.

"You're name's Meiling Li, correct?" she enquired.

"Yes," Meiling responded.

"Are you two brother and sister?"

"Cousins."

"I see. Has your cousin exhibited any signs of being a weapon?"

"I'm not a weapon," Syaoran interjected.

"That's not what your tag says," Black«Star retorted. The glares continued.

"Well…" Meiling started, "he can do elemental magic, but our whole family's known for being able to do that."

"Can you do that?" Tsubaki asked.

"No," Meiling frowned, sounding disappointed.

"Alright, kid, let's see this elemental mojo that she's talking about," Black«Star commanded.

Meiling backed away from Syaoran. Noticing this, Tsubaki and Black«Star did the same. Syaoran steadied himself and closed his eyes. He clasped his hands together, chanting something. He held up two fingers.

"SPIRITS OF FIRE, ANSWER MY CALL." he shouted, and he began breathing fire into the air. He twisted it through the air with the two fingers he had raised. It was as if he and the fire were dancing with each other.

Everyone was shocked, and Sakura stared in awe, admiring the control in his movements and the grace in his step. With one final move, the fire disappeared, and the young boy stood tall before bowing.

Everyone clapped, some louder than others.

"Very good!" Tsubaki praised, "Are there other elements you can control as well?"

"Water, Air, Thunder," Syaoran stated, stone faced, "I'm learning Earth magic as of date."

"Magic…are you a witch…or rather…wizard, Li-kun?" Tsubaki asked.

"Most of our family is, so yes!" Meiling chirped.

Tsubaki nodded, taking in the information and writing it in her file.

"Except…me…"Meiling added, dejectedly.

"Well, that's alright, Li-chan, you'll be able to use magic when using Li-kun in his weapon for-"

"I'M NOT A WEAPON!" Syaoran shouted. Sakura noticed a pained look on his face as he said it.

Tsubaki and Black«Star looked at him, confused. They looked at each other, as if silently communicating something to each other, and then nodded.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do," Black«Star began, "We're gonna do a small exercise, and when it's done, that'll determine which one of you's the weapon."

Syaoran looked prepared, while Meiling seemed more nervous. Tsubaki took over.

"Now, I want you both to close your eyes."

The two cousins obeyed.

"Shut out every distraction around you. There's no else in this room right now. You're in your mind now. Focus your attention to the center of your body. Do you feel a pulsing sensation?"

They both nodded.

"That's your soul wavelength."

Tsubaki now had the whole attention of the room. Sakura and Tomoyo stared, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Focus on that feeling. Let it run through your entire being."

Both cousins were incredibly relaxed, and Tsubaki smiled.

"You feel it?"

They nodded again.

"Good. Now, as you let this feeling run through your body, I want you to find an image. This image should be clear in your mind."

Syaoran seemed to struggle, as his brow began to furrow. Meiling squeezed her eyelids tightly, holding her breath, trying to think of something.

"You don't need to force it!" Tsubaki reassured, "If you don't see anything yet, don't worry. Just focus on your soul wavelength. The image will come to you."

The two cousins relaxed their composures. Meiling still seemed to struggle. All her mind could conjure was the shape of a person.

Syaoran, on the other hand, saw something different. His mind was empty. Any judging eyes and insecurity he felt before had disappeared. All that was before him, in his mind's eye, was a sword. A Chinese jian, like the one he used when practicing martial arts at home. The hilt had a black grip and a guard was large and gold, with a red oval jewel at the center. The blade was long, protruding from the golden guard, shining a beautiful, silver light. A red tassel with a black orb near the end dangled in the air at the top of the hilt.

He wanted to reach out and touch it. And yet…

_ "You must become a meister at the DWMA."_ A voice from the past told him. He realized quickly that it wasn't his mother, Meiling's aunt. It wasn't any of his sisters. It wasn't even a father he never met. It was _his_ voice.

_ "You're the man of the family,"_ he kept telling himself, _"You need to be in charge. Being a tool to a means to an end is not an option. This is your chance to show you're not weak."_

Outside his mind, Syaoran appeared to be struggling now. He exhibited a glow, while Meiling did not. The students stared in curiosity. Tsubaki turned her attention to Black«Star.

"I'm going to focus on Li-kun. You watch over Meiling-chan, okay?" she whispered.

"Sure thing," he answered, and they switched spots. Tsubaki stood in front of Syaoran, placing a hand gently on his head.

"Clear your mind of all distractions," she told him, "Even any voices in your head… Only listen to your soul wavelength."

_ "I want to be strong,"_ his voice echoed in his head, before he cleared it away. The sword shone brighter, and he reached out. He felt peace. He felt his body warp and torque into a new shape.

Meiling felt Black«Star tap her shoulders as she opened her eyes to see her cousin glowing, his body twisting and swirling into a new shape. When the twisting has ceased, Syaoran had taken the form of the sword he saw in his head. However, his mind was not aware.

He felt a weight to him though, as if he was going to fall, but he couldn't move. Meiling grabbed the hilt of the sword before he could hit the ground.

"You can open your eyes," Tsubaki instructed him, and he did.

He felt lighter and then realized what he had just done. He was a sword now. His cousin had him in her hands. He could barely move, and when he tried, Meiling's grip seemed to tighten, as if he was slipping from her hands.

He was horrified. An after-image of his face appeared in the silver blade, reflecting his new discovery. The students clapped, seemingly impressed.

"Very good, Li-kun!" Tsubaki praised.

"Looks like the guy at the front wasn't wrong, was he?" Black«Star interjected.

Meiling was speechless with excitement.

"But this…I just…it can't be!" Syaoran exclaimed.

"What's wrong, Li-kun?"

"THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" the sword whined.

"The hell you talkin' about?" Black«Star asked, visibly annoyed.

"I just…this…I'm supposed to be a powerful meister!"

"Well, you're not, punk, and you're just gonna have to deal."

"There's nothing wrong with being a weapon," Tsubaki reassured him.

"But…the weapon is the weaker of the pair…right?"

Tsubaki froze, a hurt look on her face. Black«Star was livid and stormed toward the two cousins. Meiling dropped her cousin's newly found sword form to the floor with a clang, and Syaoran twisted back into human form, rubbing his head. Black«Star grabbed Syaoran by the collar of his shirt, giving him the deadliest of glares.

"DON'T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN," he spat, and Syaoran looked terrified, thinking this bizarre muscle man of a teacher was going to kill him. However, Black«Star dropped him on the ground with a thud, and Syaoran immediately fell backwards, now sitting on the floor. Meiling rushed to his side, holding him close to her and looking up at their teacher. Tsubaki gave a serious look to the class as Black«Star spoke.

"Now LISTEN UP, ALL OF YOU. I'M ONLY GONNA SAY THIS ONCE. IF YOU CAME HERE THINKING THAT WEAPONS ARE WEAKER THAN MEISTERS, THEN THAT NEEDS TO FUCKIN' CHANGE. BEING A MEISTER DOESN'T MAKE YOU BETTER THAN ANY WEAPON IN THIS SCHOOL. BEING A WEAPON DOESN'T MAKE YOU HOT SHIT EITHER."

The class went deathly silent. Sakura and Tomoyo were especially paying close attention. Meiling had a look of hope on her face. Syaoran, on the other hand, looked like a dog with his tail between his legs.

"SO IF YOU'RE GONNA GO AROUND WITH AN ATTITUDE LIKE THIS," he continued, pointing to the guilt-stricken weapon on the floor, "YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET ANYWHERE IN THIS SCHOOL, SO GET THAT OUT OF YOUR FUCKING LITTLE HEADS. MEISTERS NEED THEIR WEAPONS AS MUCH AS THEIR WEAPONS NEED THEM."

Tsubaki put a hand on his shoulder, and his demeanor began to take on a calmer mood. He breathed out a long sigh.

"Okay, sorry. I just want to make sure it's not only clear to THIS…kid…but to every single one of you. You're all on equal footing. Treat each other with respect. Got it?"

The room filled with "yes's," "yeah's," and nods of the head.

"Good."

Black«Star turned to Meiling and Syaoran, who had just gotten up off the floor.

"Don't ever talk about weapons like that," he muttered to Syaoran, "And don't you dare call your cousin weak. The fact that she's able to wield your sorry ass is proof enough that she's got magical abilities."

At the sound of this, Meiling beamed with pride.

"You really mean that?" she asked.

"Of course, Li-chan…may I call you Meiling?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Well, Meiling-chan, we will definitely work with you on your abilities as a meister. I can see a lot of potential in the both of you."

Meiling bounced in joy, while Syaoran stared at the ground, defeated. He finally looked at Tsubaki.

"Ma'am…"

"Yes, Li-kun?" she answered, in a more serious tone.

"Are you a weapon?"

There was a small pause, before she answered seriously, but with certain humility.

"Yes, I am."

Syaoran, surprisingly, bowed his head.

"I apologize for what I said."

Tsubaki was taken aback for a moment but then smiled.

"Apology accepted."

She lifted his head so that they looked each other in the eye.

"You're a very strong and gifted young man, and you're going to be a fine weapon…"

The pain that was in Syaoran's face disappeared and was replaced with bashful embarrassment.

"Thank you," he replied, looking down at his feet.

She smiled before asking the two of them to see Black«Star and her after class. The tension in the room cleared as soon as Tsubaki spoke to the students again.

"Alright, who wants to go next?"

* * *

The orientation went by smoothly after that, each pair coming up one by one, answering questions, and displaying their skills. Most of the students seemed to be placed in the N.O.T. class. Some were content with this. Others were disappointed.

Syaoran and Meiling stayed in the back of the room while everyone else got to leave. While Meiling seemed to be fidgeting with excitement over the promise of becoming a meister, Syaoran was more meditative over the circumstances. Sakura wanted to go over and talk to them. Maybe give a few encouraging words. However, before she could take any action, it was her turn to be placed along with her partner, Tomoyo.

The two girls stood before Black«Star and Tsubaki as the last pair of the day. Sid continued to sit in his chair, watching the two new teachers.

"Alright," Tsubaki chirped, "what are your names, ladies?"

"Sakura Kinomoto," said the green-eyed meister.

"Tomoyo Daidouji," said the elegant, dark-haired weapon.

"It says you're both from Japan," Tsubaki read from her file, "Did you two know each other before this?"

"We've been best friends since third grade," Tomoyo answered.

"Well, how wonderful! Then you two will have a good stable resonance already."

Sakura seemed confused.

"Sometimes, pre-made relationships, based in trust, are good foundations for a stable soul resonance between two people," Tsubaki explained, "Because you two know each other well, if you've known each other for that long, you'll have gotten used to each other's soul wavelengths, probably without ever having to think about it."

The two girls looked at each other and smiled brightly.

"Alright, let's get these two outta here so they can enjoy the rest of the day before Kid's big ol' speech tonight," Black«Star interjected. Tsubaki nodded and began to instruct them as she did before.

"Okay, which one of you is the weapon?"

Tomoyo raised her hand.

"Alright, Daidouji-chan, I need you to close your eyes."

She did so.

"Shut out every distraction around you. There's no else in this room right now. You're in your mind now. Focus your attention to the center of your body," the woman repeated.

Tomoyo felt her soul wavelength swell through her body. After hearing these words several times from the woman in front of her, the actions she had to do seemed to come naturally to her.

"You feel your soul wavelength, Daidouji-chan?"

Tomoyo nodded with a smile.

"Good. Now, as you let this feeling run through your body, I want you to find an image. This image should be clear in your mind."

Tomoyo began to glow, a pink-ish light surrounding her. Sakura stared at her friend, amazed. Then, suddenly, a magic circle appeared on the floor, which caused the remaining people in the room to step back. It even caught Syaoran and Meiling's attention, for they seemed to recognize it.

Western and Eastern symbols filled the glowing gold circle while a sun shape shone in the middle. A crescent moon contained itself in it's own circle next to the sun, shining almost as brightly.

Black«Star and Tsubaki stared in confusion, first at the circle and then at each other. Sakura only waited in awe, to see what would happen with her friend.

In her mind, Tomoyo was surprised to see an image come so clearly to her. She didn't know what kind of weapon she'd be, when she first discovered her abilities. The image before her seemed so fitting, reminding her of her friend she loved so dearly.

It was a scepter of some sort, the size of a baton. The shaft was pink with a small gold and ruby decoration on the bottom. The head of the scepter was in the shape of a bird's head: gold with a large, red beak. The eyes, she noticed, looked like the red disks with white metallic wings that would appear on the side of her head sometimes, when she was human.

It was such a cute-looking thing, it couldn't possibly be a weapon, like the ones she saw today from the other students. However, if this was the image she conjured from her own soul, it must be worth something.

She hesitated for a moment, and then Tomoyo reached out towards the scepter. As she did so, the pink light overtook her, and she felt her body twisting into a new shape.

Before her eyes, Sakura saw her best friend changing into a weapon. Tomoyo had turned into swirls and wisps of pink light, the magic circle still visible on the floor. The swirls took shape until Tomoyo appeared as her weapon form, the bird-headed scepter.

Sakura immediately grabbed her friend, taking her into both hands. The magic circle shined a little brighter, swirling wisps of wind around the room. Sakura could feel power through every nerve in her body, as her soul resonated with Tomoyo's. The wind swirled around them, and Sakura could only giggle in excitement. The wind soon calmed and the magic circle faded away. Tomoyo ceased glowing pink, resting comfortably in Sakura's light grip.

"That was…fantastic!" Tsubaki exclaimed, trying to catch her breath.

"What…what is she supposed to be?" Black«Star pointed out, looking at Tomoyo's weapon form.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," Tomoyo's voice echoed from the scepter.

"May I try using you…er…I mean," Sakura stammered, not knowing how to phrase it.

"You two seem to be resonating well," Tsubaki pointed out, "Do your hands feel okay? Any burning sensations?"

"No, not really," Sakura answered.

"Well, then, why don't you two try moving in sync with each other?" Tsubaki suggested.

Sakura spun her friend through her fingers, like when she would twirl the baton in cheerleading back in Tomoeda. Tomoyo began to spin with Sakura's movements, discovering she could move even in her current state. Then, Sakura tossed the scepter into the air. As Tomoyo twirled and fell, Sakura caught her, giving her one final spin before holding her still. Sakura then realized this was the first time she had ever caught any sort of baton-like object that she'd thrown into the air. Despite being decent with baton in cheerleading, she never once caught the baton, always missing as it clocked her on the head.

Both Tomoyo and Sakura were silent for a moment before the green-eyed meister began to jump for joy.

"I FINALLY CAUGHT IT!" she exclaimed.

"I KNOW!" Tomoyo chimed in.

"I MEAN IT'S…you're not…a baton…"

"Well, yeah…"

"BUT STILL!"

"I KNOW!"

Tomoyo soon changed back into a human with ease. The two girls then began to jump up and down, holding hands and squealing with delight. While the others in the room were confused, the teachers seemed very pleased. The two Li cousins still sat there, dumbfounded.

"That magic circle…" Meiling muttered.

"I know," Syaoran responded, "I'll call mother tonight and ask her about it."

"Good idea."

"Congratulation, you two!" chimed Tsubaki, making notes on the papers she had in her file.

"What kinda circle was that?" asked Black«Star.

Tomoyo looked confused.

"Circle?"

"There was this magic circle or something below you when you transformed," Sakura explained.

Tomoyo seemed dumbfounded.

"You don't know what that circle is?" Syaoran piped up from the back of the room, and they all turned to look at him.

"Do _you_ know what it is, Li-kun?" Tsubaki enquired. Syaoran was about to say, but then seemed to stop himself. Black«Star's face went serious.

"Alright, girls, you go ahead and go," he said.

"But…what about our…class status?" Sakura questioned.

Tsubaki finished writing what she needed to in her file and spoke.

"Due to your remarkable resonance skills, as well as Kinomoto-chan's ability to wield her partner with fantastic accuracy…I'd say you two would fit right into the E.A.T. class!"

Tomoyo seemed surprised, but her friend wasn't as happy.

"E.A.T.?" Sakura asked, "But…isn't that for students who can fight?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"So…why…I'm…I'm a witch! I don't know how to control my powers! I came here to learn how to conceal all of that, so I thought I'd be an N.O.T. student…"

"Well, of course, you're going to learn how to conceal your powers, but N.O.T. class students are usually average in their abilities, and, from what we saw, you're abilities are far from average. Both of you seem to be extremely powerful!"

The two friends looked at each other, concerned. Tsubaki noticed this and tried to comfort them.

"W-Well…since we don't know if there's a full crisis yet…we may not need you to fight!" the teacher stammered, "Whatever is happening right now may not be that big of a deal and the teachers can handle it…"

Black«Star put a hand on Tsubaki's shoulder, giving her a serious look. Sakura got the idea that they were communicating something to each other, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"Whatever the case may be, I promise that you two will be ready for whatever life throws at us," Tsubaki encouraged, and that seemed to make the two friends feel more at ease.

"Now, you two run along," Black«Star shooed, "Enjoy the rest of your day."

They nodded.

"And IF YOU EVER NEED ANYTHING, YOU COME FIND THE GREAT AND MIGHTY BLACK«STAR!" he roared in excitement before letting out a hearty laugh.

The two girls were taken aback but then smiled, knowing they had adults that they could trust, as they left through the door out into the hall.

Black«Star, Tsubaki, and Sid then turned their attention to Syaoran and Meiling, who stood up and walked over to their superiors.

"Alright kiddos," said the aging blue man in basketball attire, "just come follow us."


	4. Chapter 3: Book

AN: After some editing, I decided to split Chapter 2 at a certain point and make this part a new chapter. Make the chapter less lengthy, you know? I think it'll be easier writing this in smaller chunks. This part of Chapter 2 is now Chapter 3! Enjoy!

* * *

The three teachers and two students walked down a multitude of hallways before coming across a large mirror. Tsubaki fogged it with her breath and wrote what looked like a phone number: 42-42-564.

The group walked through the mirror, which led to yet another hallway. However, all that surrounded them was the clear blue sky. They had a single walkway to cross, lined with red archways that resembled guillotines.

"Whoa," Meiling whispered. Her cousin merely stared, a mix of fright and awe on his face. They continued walking for a long while until they came to, what looked like, a small island mass. All that was there was another mirror, a table, a well-cushioned chair, and a figure cloaked in black, his back facing the group.

He turned around to face them. His entire countenance was covered in black with a white mask on his face. The mask looked like a skull with three, long sharp teeth. Meiling thought it kind of looked like a tooth with cavities.

The figure reached a hand towards his face to remove the mask. His skin was pale, but showed little to no signs of aging. His eyes were golden, and his short hair was black, bangs slightly draping over his face. He removed the hood of his cloak to reveal three glowing rings surrounding his head, like three halos. His lips curled into a smile at the sight of his friends and the new students.

"Hello, Black«Star," he greeted.

"Hey, Kid," said the muscled teacher, walking up to his friend and rival and giving him a warm handshake.

"Li-kun, Meiling-chan, this is Lord Death," Tsubaki explained, "Before the previous Lord Death passed on, his name was Death the Kid."

"You know you can still call me that," he stated to Tsubaki.

"I know, but normally the students are supposed to address you as Lord Death, so…"

Death the Kid merely raised a hand.

"It's fine," he said, "I'm just messing around with you, Tsubaki." The woman simply smiled as the God of Death returned the grin.

From behind, two more figures showed up, when Syaoran turned around to look. One was a woman with ash-blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and green eyes, the same green as _that_ girl's eyes: Kinomoto. She wore a plaid, pleated skirt that went just above her knees, a white button-up shirt with a green and silver striped tie, and black combat boots. The other figure was a man, with white-as-snow hair and crimson red eyes. His clothes were more casual: jeans and a T-shirt, with a flannel button-up and the sleeves rolled up his forearms. His shoes were more formal dress shoes but were scuffed with age.

The woman seemed like a no-nonsense sort of person, someone Syaoran could admire. The man with her, however, seemed like a lazy sort. These two were complete opposites in every sense of the word. They greeted Death the Kid as soon as they arrived.

"Hey, Kid," the man muttered, with a nod of his head, hands in his jean pockets.

"Are we going to continue what we discussed yesterday?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Kid answered, "But I need to ask who these two new students are…and…why exactly are they here?"

"Oh yes," Tsubaki stammered, "This is Syaoran and Meiling Li. They're cousins, said to be on a mission of some sort."

"Mission? What mission?"

Syaoran and Meiling stayed silent before Kid spoke again.

"There's no need to be frightened. Whatever it is, I'm sure we can help you."

"We're not scared, and we don't need your help," Syaoran muttered before Meiling elbowed him in the side.

"We get the idea that these two might be involved in what we were discussing last night," Sid stated.

Kid raised an eyebrow. Meiling spoke, since Syaoran was too stubborn to say anything.

"We're looking for the Book of Clow," she answered. Everyone in the room perked up at this.

"MEILING!" her cousin hissed.

"Well, it's not like they're gonna kill us, Syaoran! They're teachers, and we're just students here!"

"I KNEW THEY HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS," Black«Star exclaimed, proudly. Tsubaki tried to quiet him down.

"You mean _this_ Book of Clow?" asked the woman with the ask-blonde hair. The two cousins turned to see the woman pull something out of a large bag on her arm. It was a red book, with a gold latch on the side to keep it shut and gold plating on the edges. A lion with wings graced the front cover, but the back was blank. It read "The Clow" on the banner on the front, and a sun decoration hung from the front on a gold chain on either side of it.

"What do you know about this book?"

"It's a spellbook," Syaoran explained, "It was written by a sorcerer named Clow Reed." The God of Death and the remaining teachers looked more serious than before.

"You know who Clow Reed is?" asked Meiling, and Kid stepped towards them.

"We believe that he has released followers of his throughout parts of the world. Some of them are in Death City. They appear to be kishin, but we can't seem to kill them or catch them at all."

"Kishin?" the cousins asked together.

"Demon gods," the ash-blonde woman explained, "Corrupted souls that wander humanity, devouring innocent souls."

"We believe that who this Clow Reed is," Kid continued, "He could pose a threat to the Academy. However, we haven't taken immediate action as of yet. So far, he seems to be hidden away, but word of his identity is getting around …How do you know who he is?"

"Are you followers of his- OW!" Black«Star murmured, and Tsubaki elbowed his arm.

"We're distant relatives," Meiling answered, "from his mother's side of the family. We're trying to retrieve it so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands…or something like that."

"Mother stated we needed to find it in order to capture all the souls you mentioned earlier that you couldn't retrieve," Syaoran finished.

"So…you're here to…stop the chaos that's going on right now," Kid stated.

"Yes," Syaoran answered, as honest and sincere as any other.

Death the Kid nodded.

"That's good," he said to himself. The teachers seemed to relax a little.

"What do you know about this Clow Reed guy?" asked the man with the snow-white hair.

"He's the most powerful magician in the world," Meiling answered.

"He created a new form of magic," continued Syaoran, "fusing magic to soul and trapping them to cast spells."

"His father was from England, and his mother was from China. She's our great-grandmother… I think?" Meiling added, looking to Syaoran for clarity.

"Our family is rooted on Clow's mother's side of the family."

"I see," said the young God of Death, "and this is his spellbook?"

"Yes," they answered.

Death the Kid took the book from the woman with the ash-blonde hair. He then seemed to make a small realization.

"Oh, forgive me, I didn't introduce you to your other teachers over here," he pointed out, directing the Li children's gazes to the man and woman with the ash-blonde and white hair, respectively.

"This is Maka Albarn," he stated, pointing to the woman then pointing to the man next to her, "and her weapon partner, Soul Eater Evans. They will teaching you, if you're in the E.A.T. class."

"Given the circumstances," Maka added, "they may have to be."

"Why didn't he tell these kids our new last names?" her weapon pouted.

"I told him that Kid that we'd go by our regular last names when we're here, working as teachers."

"But isn't that gonna get confusing?"

"I don't think so. It's not as big of a mouthful as Albarn-Evans."

"What's wrong with Albarn-Evans?"

"Nothing, you big idiot, it's just a lot to say sometimes, so…"

"It was _your _idea to begin with!"

"Yes, it was!"

"So why are you making such a big to-do over it?"

"It's a lot to say!"

"That's what _I _told you when we discussed this!"

"You said you were fine with it!"

"YEAH, after we argued over it for, like, a week!"

The two of them bickered like this for a good while, as the two Li cousins stared in disbelief. How could they possibly be a meister and weapon team if they fought this much?

"CAN YOU TWO BITCH ABOUT THIS SHIT LATER?" Black«Star bellowed, and they stopped. Soul looked at Maka with lazy, frustrated eyes, and Maka merely pouted at him. They grabbed each other's hand and Maka rested her head on Soul's shoulder in defeat, at least for the moment.

"Anyways," Black«Star added, motioning towards Maka, "were you able to get that stupid book open…_Albarn-Evans_?"

Soul began snickering, and Maka gave Black«Star the evil eye as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"No," she retorted, "In fact, we tried everything. Soul's scythe blade can't even cut the leather on that latch. We tried kitchen knives…"

"We tried banging it against the sink…" Soul continued.

"We drilled it…"

"…lit the fucker on fiiiirrre…"

"Blair tried clawing it…"

"…ripping it with her teeth…"

"…ripping it with Soul's teeth…"

"You tried everything, basically," Kid finished.

"Yup," the couple nodded. Everyone groaned or shook their heads.

"Maybe we could try opening it?" Meiling suggested.

"Maybe only a relative of Clow Reed can open it?" Syaoran added.

"Seems kinda stupid…" Black«Star muttered.

"But… it might work," Kid added in before handing the book to them, "Try it."

Meiling tried first. She pinched at the latch. Nothing happened. She tried plying it open with her hands. Nothing. She tried ripping the leather of the latch. Nothing. It was stuck. She sighed, defeated, and everyone followed suit.

"Let me try," Syaoran retorted, and he grabbed the book. He, too, pinch, plied, ripped, and banged. Nothing happened. However the image on the front emitted a dim, golden glow.

"It must be reacting to your powers," Meiling exclaimed. So, Syaoran placed the book on the floor and began chanting the spell he used earlier that day.

"SPIRITS OF FIRE, ANSWER MY CALL!"

He blew fire from his fingertips to the book, seeing if the fire would do anything. The book was left in chards. Then, suddenly, the book began to repair and seal itself shut, absorbing whatever flames were left behind. The book now looked brand new, like it had never been touched.

"There's some sort of magic seal on it," Maka concluded, "It reacted to Syaoran Li, but he couldn't get it open."

"So, someone who's more powerful that him can probably open it, right?" Soul added.

"Probably," Maka continued, smirking at her partner, "But, obviously, it can't be just anyone. It has to be someone who has magical powers…"

"Like…a witch…maybe?" Soul asked. Maka seemed to be coming to the same conclusion.

"Yeah," she murmured, "someone who can use spells, not based on the power of the soul alone, like us… We need to gather all of the witches together. What do you think, Kid?"

Death the Kid pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Alright, I'll contact Mabaa immediately. Gather every witch that's attending the Academy. Whatever is in this book may be the key to learning more about this sorcerer, Clow Reed."

"What else can you tell us about Clow?" Maka asked, directed her attention to Meiling and Syaoran.

"His magic is a mixture of Western and Eastern elements. We also know his magic circle…" Syaoran answered.

"Magic circle?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Nakatsukasa saw it today."

Black«Star and Tsubaki soon realized what he was talking about: the magic circle that appeared underneath Tomoyo Daidouji.

"One of the students…" Tsubaki muttered.

"Could Clow Reed be disguised as a student?" Black«Star exclaimed.

"I…would've felt his presence somehow…" Syaoran answered, thinking back to the two girls from orientation. He would've felt it. He felt it once before. It was like ice running down your spine. He didn't feel the presence of Clow Reed, and yet that magic circle appeared.

"Or Clow Reed is manipulating one of the students…"Maka concluded,

"Is there anything else you can tell us?"

Syaoran shook his head. Meiling followed suit.

"Then you all know what to do," Kid directed, and everyone nodded.

All of the present teachers went back to their classes. Syaoran and Meiling stayed with the God of Death.

"You may stay here for the time being," he told them. Soon, a tea pot and three cups appeared on the table in the "room," and he motioned the two teenagers to sit down.

"Would any of you care for some tea while we wait?" he asked. Syaoran and Meiling looked confused.

"My father always welcomed company this way. I know it's strange, but I always want to greet students with a gesture of kindness."

The two cousins relaxed a little and slowly sat themselves down, letting the God of Death pour tea in each of their cups.

"I believe Liz calls this Darjeeling."

"Who's Liz?" Meiling enquired.

"She, along with her younger sister, Patti, are my weapon partners."

"_Two_ weapons?"

"Twin pistols."

"Oh."

He took a sip of tea. Syaoran followed suit, but Meiling continued to ask questions.

"Where are they, exactly?"

"They're at my estate, resting. We were searching for this Clow Reed fellow while the Academy has been busy with their own priorities." Kid smiled to himself.

"What about your father? I didn't know Gods of Death had family."

"He was the first one. He's passed on…into another life or plain of existence, I suppose."

"What about your mother?"

"I'm not sure, actually."

"Sounds pretty complicated."

"It is."

They smiled at each other in content. Syaoran continued to sip his tea in silence, as they waited for the next step.


	5. Chapter 4: Seal

AN: PLOT! * sighs * Sorry for waiting so long. Time to REALLY get the plot rolling.

* * *

A wisp of wind went through the air, as it formed into a human humanoid shape. A large poster was caught in it's breeze, as the spirit grabbed it, pasting it to the before turning back into the desert breeze it so cleverly masked itself as.

The poster read:

**_Death Shall Be Erased and All Shall Live._**

**_ Arise to Clow Reed: The Morning Sun and Midnight Moon._**

****A picture of a hooded figure, holding a golden scythe graced the center.

* * *

Maka wasn't sure what to do at this point. A week passed, and still no witch or wizard in or outside the DWMA was able to open this stupid Clow book. Thankfully, her argument with Soul was over. They'd go by their original last names, during school hours. Kid decided on this, much to Maka's chagrin.

Their previous fight ended in her apologizing to her partner for not talking about it with him first. He apologized for making it such a big deal, to which his meister shook her head, saying he had nothing to apologize for.

However, this make-up didn't stop Maka from having her strange dream. The girl with auburn hair and green eyes. Two girls bleeding before her. A shadowed figure with a golden scythe.

Maka woke with a start once again, with her partner stirring next to her.

"You're still having that dream?" he asked.

"Guess so…" she replied.

He rubbed her back for a bit, before they lay in each other's arms.

"Have you met those two girls yet in your classes?"

"Not yet."

"You'll probably meet them when you least expect it."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Maka giggled.

Soul kissed the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Mrs. Albarn-Evans."

She smacked the side of his arm, which earned her a chuckle from him, and they both ended up softly chuckling before shutting their eyes.

"Goodnight, Mr. Albarn-Evans," she smiled, as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

While Sakura didn't wake up in the middle of the night, her dream was oddly similar. Sakura's dreams were mostly déjà vu for her. Anything she saw happened the next day. Most of her dreams this night were just that, until…

Everything went black, and then she felt herself opening her eyes. However, all she saw was darkness, feeling warm arms around her. And pain in her lower abdomen. She looked down.

Blood.

_Oh God…_

Her vision became hazy, as she tried to move her head. She turned her head up to see who was holding her. A woman? She assumed it was a woman…with ashy-blonde hair. When her vision focused more, she saw this woman (seeing she guessed correctly) had eyes as green as hers.

She turned her head again. Someone was on the ground, surrounded in blood. A girl…with dark hair…

_Tomoyo?_

She wanted to cry out. Ask if her friend was okay. But all she could do was choke out a noise, like a frog croaking.

And then, a dark shadow appeared in the corner of her eye. By the time her head turned, the figure had a golden scythe raised. It swung towards her head and then…

The alarm rang.

* * *

"That's rather frightening!"

"I know," Sakura told a now worried Tomoyo, "It didn't make _any_ sense."

"I wonder who that blonde woman was," Tomoyo pondered, "Her appearance sounds familiar."

"Really?"

"Yes! There's a teacher people here talk about. Her name's Maka Albarn, I believe. They say she helped create the last death scythe!"

"That sounds cool! …but what does that mean?"

"Well…apparently, this school originally focused on training weapons that Lord Death could use, right?"

"Right…"

"So…this teacher's weapon partner is the last death scythe 'created'…from what I understand."

"So…if we're not training to create weapons for Lord Death…what _are _we doing?"

"I'm not exactly sure, Sakura."

"I mean, we're starting the E.A.T. classes we were given for this week. I would think they'd already explain by now…"

"I'm sure they will, Sakura. We just have to be patient, I suppose."

Sakura sighed and let herself flop onto the desk. Though, it was less of a desk and more of part of a long table. The girls sat with a bunch of other students in a university-like classroom. The table-like desks curved in semi-circles towards the front of the room, where a white board and teacher's desk stood empty. The clock read 8:50 a.m., by the hands.

Since Sakura and Tomoyo completed the necessary tests for their fields of expertise, they were ready to start their classes. The girls recognized some of the students from the orientation. While Tomoyo began talking to a few select students, Sakura took the time to introduce herself to every single person in the room.

"Hello!" greeted Sakura.

"Um…hello?" responded a girl with dark hair and skin.

"My name is Sakura Kinomoto! What's your name?"

"Uh…Shana! Shana O'Hare. Nice to meet ya."

Sakura would then ask where they were from, if they were a meister or weapon, and would end with complimenting them on their appearance or their clothes, as honest as she was able.

When Sakura finished this friendly endeavor, she sat with Tomoyo and told her the dream she had. It was now 8:51. Sakura was never one for being patient.

Then, suddenly, the teacher came bursting into the room. The room quieted a little. The ash-blonde hair seemed way too familiar in Sakura's eyes.

"No need for alarm, kids!" shouted Maka, "Class hasn't started yet! Just getting situated."

The room's idle chatter began again. Sakura stared at the teacher with wide eyes. She was sitting just close enough that she could identify this woman's face. It was her: the woman from her dream.

Nine o' clock hit, and the bell rang. Ding dong DEAD dong. The students started sitting down.

"Morning everyone," the teacher greeted, "My name's Maka Albarn. I'll be your teacher for Essentials on Souls."

She took a marker and wrote her name on the board. The room slowly grew quiet. Sakura leaned towards her friend.

"I think that's her…"

"The woman from your dream?" Tomoyo whispered.

"Yeah…"

Maka turned around to face the class, grabbing a thin, hardbound notebook and a pen.

"I'm gonna go ahead and take role," she stated, opening the notebook and looking down, biting the end of the pen.

"Bethany Diehl?"

"Here," called a young girl with pink and black striped hair. She looked way too young. She couldn't have been more than eight years old. Maka smirked to herlself, making a mark in her notebook.

"Takashi Yamazaki?"

"Here," called a young man around Sakura's age with eyes closed shut.

"Chiharu Mihara?"

"Here," called a girl sitting next to Yamazaki, her hair pulled up in large braid pigtails.

Eventually, Syaoran Li was called. Then Meiling Li. And so on. This continued for a while, as Sakura continued to flash back to her dream. The woman with ash-blonde hair. A shadowed figure with a golden scythe. And then…

"Sakura Kinomoto?"

Sakura jolted for her daydreaming and raised her hand.

"Here!" she exclaimed. As Maka checked the name in her notebook, she looked up.

She froze. Short auburn hair. Wide green eyes. This girl, Sakura Kinomoto, looked exactly like the girl from her dream she had for so many nights. Maka's eyes widened, as did Sakura's. A uncertain fear grew in Maka's stomach, as her mysterious student gazed at her in curiousity. This girl knew who she was, judging by the way she stared. Maka snapped out of her focus on Sakura and finished the roster.

She shut her notebook, grabbing a small book with the title _A Guide to the Soul_ written on the front.

"Alright, everyone, if you have your textbook, turn to page five. If you don't have the book, get it soon, but you can share with your neighbor for now."

* * *

A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body. That was how the lesson began and ended. Lectures about the anatomy of the soul, discussions about the origin of souls, and so on went throughout the period. By eleven o' clock, everyone was ready to leave. Sakura and Tomoyo wouldn't have another class until one, so they decided to head to lunch.

As the walked down the steps from their seats and crossed the room to the door, Maka Albarn called out to Sakura.

"Yes, Miss Albarn?"

"I…need to speak with you about something," the teacher replied. She looked over to see her friend, whom she only half recognized. This girl, she believed her name was Tomoyo Daidoiuji, had long, thick, jet-black hair, the same as the other young girl in her dream. Maka decided to call this girl over as well.

"I need your friend to stay as well," she said. Tomoyo looked surprised and stood next to Sakura.

"Did we do something, Miss Albarn?" asked Tomoyo, look concerned.

"Oh no, no. I just need to ask you some things…" answered their teacher.

The two girls looked at each other and then returned their gaze to their teacher.

"Listen," Maka continued, "Have any of you girls…had strange dreams lately?"

Tomoyo shook her head.

"I have…" Sakura answered.

"What were they of…?"

With only slight hesitation, Sakura told her. Just as Maka thought, this girl had the same dream as her.

"Do you usually have dreams like this?"

"Not really…. They only just started. Usually I just have déjà vu-like dreams…or something like that…"

"I see…" and Maka became absorbed in her thoughts. She grabbed a folder out of her bag. It was filled with papers, mostly student information. She flipped through until she found Sakura and Tomoyo's papers.

"Ms. Kinomoto?" she said as Sakura tensed a little, "It says here that you're a witch?"

"Yes…" Sakura hesitated.

"There's been a call for witches to visit Lord Death this last week…"

"Really? Why?"

"You didn't attend? It was announced throughout the school the entire week…"

"I'm sorry. I suppose we…" she motioned at herself and Tomoyo, "…have been doing the testing exercises all week and didn't notice…"

Maka sighed, putting the papers back in her folder, and she began packing her bag.

"What's going on?" Tomoyo finally asked, seeming very confused, possibly even agitated. Everything seemed so vague. As soon as Maka put her bag on her arm, she finally spoke again.

"Come on, girls. I need you to follow me."

* * *

The three of them went through a strange mirror, going down a walkway with red, guillotine archways. The meister and weapon girls didn't know what to think. However, Maka Albarn-Evans explained as best as she could, as they walked.

"We've been trying to get witches to break the seal on this particular item for a good while now. So far, there's been no success."

"So, you think Sakura could break this seal?" Tomoyo enquired.

"Possibly," their teacher responded, "As for Ms. Kinomoto's dream…I've been having the same one for quite a while now."

Sakura looked shocked.

"How can we be having the same dream?" she exclaimed.

"I honestly don't know…"

There was a pause.

"I just hope…" she continued, "…that this dream isn't…some horrible prediction of the future…"

The two girls looked horrified. They didn't have time to think about it long as they approached Lord Death. This time, there were two women with him. One girl was tall, with long, dirty-blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She had a serious air about her, and she was leaning on one leg. The other girl was shorter and more well-endowed. She had the same coloring as the other girl, but lighter, and her hair was cut short, in a bob. She had a manic smile on her face, her arms wrapped around the death god's neck.

"Hello, Maka," greeted Lord Death.

"Hey, Kid!" replied Maka, with a light smile.

"MAKA!" cried the tiny, blonde woman, as she ran up and gave Maka a tight, warm hug. Surprisingly, for her size, she was able to lift Maka off the ground.

"Hi, Patti," she finally breathed, as she was placed gently back on the ground. The little blonde smiled.

"Hey, Liz," Maka greeted the other woman next to Kid.

"'Sup," she smiled and waved.

Patti walked, or rather hopped, her way back next to Kid.

"Sakura. Tomoyo," Maka said, "These are Lord Death weapon partners, Liz and Patti Thompson."

"Are they students?" Liz asked. Maka nodded.

"They're ADORABLE!" proclaimed Patti, and she ran over to both girls, hugging them at the same time.

"I hope you girls are lovin' it here so far!" she continued, "Which one of you's the weapon?"

Tomoyo tried wiggling her arm to signal her, in Patti tight grasp. Patti let go, noticing Tomoyo's gesture, as both students gasped for air.

She then stared at Tomoyo, reaching out and slowly grabbing pieces of Tomoyo's hair lightly.

"I LOVE your hair," Patti commented, as she circled the young girl, petting her hair and playing with it. Tomoyo blushed.

"It's so dark!" Patti went on, "And soft too! It's like that watery fabric…what's it called?"

"Ummm…satin?" Tomoyo replied shyly.

"YEAH! That's it!" Patti clapped, letting go of Tomoyo's hair and then patting the young girl on the head before heading over to Sakura next. Patti ran her fingers through Sakura's hair as well before ruffling it.

"Your's is so CUTE! And it's soft too!" Patti exclaimed in excitement, and then her attention went to Sakura's boots. They were black with belts wrapped around the material up to her knee. The soles, strangely were a bubblegum pink. Patti immediately grabbed Sakura's leg, hoisting it up to look at the show better. Sakura yelped in surprise. Liz came up from behind trying to stop her sister. Maka followed suit.

"OOOO! I love these shoes!" Patti went on, ignoring the two worried women near her, "Where'd you get these?!"

"I gave them to her, as a birthday gift," Tomoyo interrupted, "I had them specially made for her. Her name is inscribed on the botto-" and Tomoyo immediately stopped herself, realizing it only made the curious blonde lift Sakura's leg even higher. Sakura was trying to balance as best as she could. Before she could fall over, Maka caught her by the shoulders.

Patti looked at the bottom of the pink soles of the shoe. Sure enough, there was a stamp at the center: a crown with SAKURA written in a legible but still fancy type.

"THAT is SOOO COOL!" Patti noted, "Shit, girl, your friend must be LOADED!"

"Okay, Patti, that's enough," cooed Liz, behind her. Patti soon let go of Sakura's leg, which landed with a thud. Sakura left out a sigh of relief, shaking her leg due to it now being sore.

Liz mouthed an 'I'm so sorry' and Sakura just waved her hand, brushing the whole thing off with a smile.

"I apologize for my partner's rudeness," Kid replied.

"What'd I say?" whined Patti.

"Patti, honey, you can't just grab someone's leg like that," answered her sister, "Also…you dunno how 'rich' her friend is. Comments like that can come off as rude…"

"But they're kick-ass shoes!"

"I know. I know. You can ask her about them later."

Patti pouted before giving her sister an 'ok' and a big grin.

"Anyways, is one of ya' a witch? Here to open that weird book?" Patti pointed. Sakura and Tomoyo looked over where the blonde's finger was pointing to see Syaoran shooting sparks of fire at the red book on the ground. He seemed despondent.

"Li?" questioned Sakura, and Syaoran turned his head towards her, eyes widening. Their eyes met for a brief moment before he glanced at the ground, crossing his arms.

"What are _you _doing here?" he muttered. Sakura frowned furrowing her brows.

"Miss Albarn brought me here," she answered, "That's all." His gaze went to Maka.

"Why'd you bring _her _here?" he retorted. Maka frowned as well, taken aback by his rudeness.

"I think she can open to book you're so carelessly shooting sparks at, Mr. Li. Now, get up and hand the book over, please."

He got up, book in hand, passing Sakura, and handing the book over to Maka.

_"Black Star wasn't kidding," _she thought to herself, _"He really _is _kind of a brat."_

Syaoran returned to his spot on the floor, as Sakura walked over to Maka, eyeing the book curiously.

"This is what you've been trying to open?" Sakura asked. Maka nodded, explaining the situation to Sakura and Tomoyo. This time, she had more information.

"Clow Reed…" Sakura breathed, feeling as if she should know that name.

"Yes, a powerful sorcerer," Maka replied as she grabbed a folded poster out of the bag. It read:

**_Death Shall Be Erased and All Shall Live._**

**_ Arise to Clow Reed: The Morning Sun and Midnight Moon._**

****A picture of a hooded figure, holding a golden scythe graced the center.

Sakura's breath hitched.

"That figure…"

"Yeah…the same as in that dream, right?"

"YES!"

"That's what I thought," Maka muttered. She handed the poster to Kid.

"Clow Reed's been showing up in those dreams I've told you about."

Kid looked at the poster. Liz and Patti peered over each of his shoulders.

"He's just like you described," he breathed, his face grim, "If I'm correct then, you may have had, what they call, a precognitive dream, Maka."

"Precog- what?" Sakura bumused.

"Precognitive dreams," Maka explained, "Dreams that predict the future." She turned her attention to Kid.

"Are these two young ladies, then…" Kid gestured towards Sakura and Tomoyo, "…are the ones you saw dying in your dream?"

"DYING?!" Tomoyo exclaimed, looking concerned.

"It's okay, Ms. Daidouji," Maka assured.

"NO, IT'S NOT," she cried, "I DON'T WANT SAKURA TO DIE."

"No one's going to die," a voice said behind them. A man with white hair with a slump in his posture came walking up.

"Soul!" Maka smiled, "Glad you could make it. Ms. Kinomoto? Ms. Daidouji? This is my weapon partner…"

"And husband…" Soul added with a shark-toothed grin. Sakura was taken aback by his sharp teeth but then smiled. There were such interesting people at this school.

"And husba- …." Maka stopped, giving him a look before he started snickering.

"Anyways," she continued, "This is my _partner_, Soul Eater Evans."

Sakura and Tomoyo looked confused.

"Husband?" Sakura said to herself.

"You're married?" Tomoyo enquired, "Then…why are your last names…"

"Can we not?" Soul interrupted. Maka sighed and nodded.

"It's complicated, girls," Maka stated, "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Divorce?" Tomoyo asked. Maka and Soul froze. Maka looked horrified and Soul looked worried, thinking his wife was going to burst into flames.

"I said something wrong?" Tomoyo continued asking. Maka became despondent until Soul patted her shoulder. She let out a sigh.

"Again," she said calmly, "I'll tell you later."

"The important thing is the book," Soul nodded. Maka agreed, pulling the book from under her arm. It was still in pristine condition. She handed the book to Tomoyo first. The book reacted with a golden glow.

"I suppose this was the girl with the magic circle you mentioned?" Kid asked, addressing Syaoran. He nodded, as Meiling came up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What about that circle?" Sakura asked.

"It's Clow Reed's magic circle," Maka explained. Sakura and Tomoyo's eyes widened.

"What? But how?" they exclaimed.

"We're not sure yet," Liz added, "Try opening it…um…Daidouji, right?"

"Yes," the dark haired girl responded.

"Alright. Well, go ahead and try opening it, Daidouji."

Tomoyo fumbled with the latch. It moved a little, but it wouldn't open. Then sparks flew, shocking Tomoyo's hand. The book fell to the floor.

"ARE YOU OKAY?!" Sakura cried to her friend.

"I'm fine," Tomoyo assured her, "It was like static."

"It doesn't like her?" Patti stated as if to ask if that's what happened.

"Guess so," Soul mumbled. Sakura looked down at the book before leaning over and picking it up in both hands. She gazed at the lion on the cover very carefully. The book reacted again, glowing, and then…

CLICK.

The latch unbuckled. Sakura yelped, juggling the book in her hands, before grasping it again and holding it away from her. Everyone stared.

"OH MY GOD, THANK YOU," Soul cried in relief. Maka collapsed her head on his shoulder, patting him on the back and sighing in relief. Kid, Liz, and Patti did the same, sighing in relief. Syaoran and Meiling looked mortified.

"It can't be…" Meiling murmured. Sakura stared at the book in confusion.

"Well, go on, open it!" Maka exclaimed excitedly. Sakura obeyed, flipping open the front cover. On the flyleaf, it read:

_The journey must end._

Sakura frowned. _What the heck does _that _mean?_

She flipped the page. There was nothing. She flipped another page. Nothing. She flipped through more page, almost frantically.

The entire book was blank.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Maka cried, and Sakura dropped the book in surprise.

"What's the matter?" Liz asked, not understanding.

"WHAT'S WRONG?!" Maka roared, "I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S FUCKING WRONG! WE'RE FINALLY ABLE TO OPEN THIS FUCKING THING, AND THERE'S NOTHING! FUCKING NOTHING INSIDE! IT'S ALL **BLANK**!"

Everyone went silent.

"I'm sorry," Sakura finally mumbled out, and Maka noticed a sad look on her face.

"Oh…oh no, Ms. Kinomoto, I'm not mad at _you_. No, it's okay, dear. We're just…"

"We thought we had a lead," Kid finished. Sakura felt less guilty but still disappointed at the situation. She was able to break the seal or what not on this powerful book, and it didn't help anyone around her. She couldn't help but feel worthless somehow.

Suddenly the book began to shake. It glowed a bright, golden light after if stopped shuddering and a gust of wind blowing the pages around violently. Everyone stared at it in disbelief.

A glowing shape began warping out of the cover of the book as soon as it shut itself, not closing the latch on the side. It looked like…a head? With teddy bear ears?

Sakura wasn't so sure.

The small form rose out of the cover, wings growing from it's back. As the form became more concrete Sakura noticed it looked like…a stuffed animal, of some sort. Maybe some sort of small lion cub with wings. It had large, round, teddy-bear-like ears. The head was larger than the body, which had small white wings and a long tail with a small tuff on the end. The toy was yellow, like a dandelion.

As the glowing ceased, the toy dropped to the ground with a soft thump, and everyone stared at it, seeing if it would do anything. Everyone hunched away when they saw the little thing try to get up, trying desperately to lift it's heavy head up and flap it's wings. As soon as the little thing got balanced, it rubbed it's little black bead eyes and yawned, stretching it's small little arms. It flapped it's little wings and was now floating in the air. Everyone couldn't believe it.

The little then floated to Sakura, eyeing her curiously before smiling and saying in a rough but tiny voice…

"HELLO-LE-LO!"

Confusion spread across the young meister's face, as it did for everyone else in the room.


	6. Chapter 5: Cerberus

AN: THREE updates in one day? I'm just on a roll, aren't I? Enjoy!

* * *

"Oh, isn't it adorable?!" Tomoyo exclaimed, after getting over her initial shock to the whole ordeal fairly quickly.

"I'm NOT adorable!" cried the small creature, "I am a MIGHTY BEAST, the Creature of the Seal! I…"  
It looked down at it's current form.

"Oh…well, this is embarrassin'…"

Sakura was still stunned in her place. She was sitting on the ground, staring at the book now. It still read THE CLOW in fancy writing, but the lion on the cover was now gone.

"_You're _the 'Creature of the Seal'?" Syaoran asked in disbelief.

"What are you sealing, pray tell?" questioned Tomoyo, "The book?"

"Well, of course!" the animal answered, chest puffed out in confidence.

"Are you a boy? A…girl?" Tomoyo continued in her never-ending questions.

"Well, I'm OBVIOUSLY a BO…" the creature began but then looked down at his form again. It looked like something was missing.

"Never mind…" he mumbled covering his face in shame. Somehow, Sakura managed to snap out of her confused daze long enough to pay attention to this detail, and she looked at him, confused.

"I don't understand…what would make it obviously that you're a boy?"

The creature only sulked to the ground in response. Most of the boys in the room hid their faces. Liz and Patti only giggled.

"Let's…just drop it," Soul finally added, and the men in the room finally breathed.

"I agree," the death god replied, "We'd like to know who exactly you're supposed to be, small…creature."

The small thing turned to look at him. He approached the God of Death, with a sparkle of admiration in his eyes.

"You're…Lord Death…" the little creature squeaked, and he bowed his head.

"A pleasure," Kid smiled, "And you are?"

"Cerberus," the creature stated proudly.

"That can't be right," Maka said from behind.

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?!" Cerberus snapped, darting towards Maka.

"Well, Cerberus is described as being a three-headed beast of Hell, and you're…"

"…a stuffed animal," Syaoran finished. Cerberus darted to Syaoran this time, giving him a strong glare with his beady eyes.

"Well, he's not the Cerberus that you're referring to, Miss…Albarn-Evans?" Syaoran hesitated. He wasn't sure how to address her at this point.

"Miss Albarn is fine," she sighed.

"Right, okay," Syaroan nodded then turned his attention to Cerberus, "Yes, this is a creation of Clow Reed's."

"I am, indeed," Cerberus agreed, eyes still narrowed.

"You're supposed to be the mystical beast with golden eyes, and yet…" Syaoran continued, looking perplexed, pointing at the creature, "…you're so…tiny…"

Cerberus's agitation was now at it's peak with this kid, and he bit down on Syaoran's pointing finger.

"AGH! GETITOFF! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!" Syaoran wailed, flailing his hand about, as Meiling tried to assist. Eventually, Cerberus let go.

"callmesmallwillyai'llshowyousmallwhenigetmyformbackandpunchyouinthenutsyoulittleshit," the Creature of the Seal mumbled to himself as Syaoran tried to ease the pain on his finger.

"Now, you…" Cerberus turned, flying over to a very confused and scared Sakura.

"What's your name, kiddo," he smiled.

"Umm…Sa…Sakura?" she stuttered.

"Well, Sakura, thank you so much for releasing me!" he cheered, grabbing one of her hands with both of his small paws, giving her a light handshake.

"I'd been sleeping there for ages!" he sighed.

"Sleeping? Aren't you supposed to be 'sealing' that book?" Sakura asked.

"Ah…that's…that's a good question…"

"Were you put into a slumber, maybe?" Maka piped in. It took the tiny creature a moment, but then, a light bulb seemed to go off in his head.

"AH HA! Yes, that's it!" he exclaimed, "Clow put me to rest, but my powers kept the book from opening."

"Are you sure it's not 'cuz he's lazy?" Syaoran gritted through his teeth. Cerberus was about to dart towards him again. Sakura caught him by the scruff of his neck, fearing he'd actually bite Syaoran's pointing finger clean off.

"It doesn't matter if it was on purpose or not right now…" Sakura began, "What's important is that you were still powerful enough to keep that book shut, even though a lot of people tried to open it, don't you think?"

"Huh…so that's why I kept waking up and falling asleep…who kept trying to open the book?"

"We had many witches try to open the book," answered the God of Death, "There are also the descendants of Clow Reed…"

"Clow Reed's descendants?!" exclaimed Cerberus, turning to Sakura, "I had no idea!"

Sakura soon realized what he meant and shook her head.

"Then who-"

She pointed to Syaoran and Meiling.

"THEM?!"

Sakura nodded.

"And you couldn't open it?"

The two cousins shook their heads somberly.

"What damn…sucks for you two…"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Whoever opens the book keeps it to do as they please."

Sakura looked surprised.

"But there's nothing in the book! It's blank."

"YEAH!" everyone chimed in over each other.

"Well, yeah, when you first open it, it's a…kinda security thing, I guess. Look at it again…"

Sakura picked up the book again and opened. The flyleaf stayed the same: _the journey must end_. However, the pages after were filled to the brim with text and pictures. Spells showing how to bind magic to a soul. How to trap a soul without killing a person. Creating artificial life. It was all described in detailed, hand-written text. It seemed familiar to Sakura somehow. Everyone tried to peer over her shoulder to see.

"Thank Death…" Maka breathed, a look of relief crossing her face.

"If this is called The CLOW, I would assume _he _wrote this?" Kid asked the small creature. Cerberus looked down, crossing his arms, as if trying to picture a memory he couldn't quite grasp.

"I suppose it doesn't matter for now," Kid assured him, and he let out a sigh.

"What can Sakura do with this book now?" enquired Tomoyo.

"Well, from what I can recall, she can do one of two things now," Cerberus suggested, "She can either use the knowledge in the book to become a powerful asset to Clow Reed OR she use the knowledge in the book to capture his 'followers'."

"Capture his followers?" Sakura asked.

"They are the spirits of Clow. Each one is different and very powerful. You can capture these spirits and use their powers for magical purposes. The way you capture them is with _these_." Cerberus glowed a golden light, and the pages of the book began to flip to a certain page with the illustration of a oblong rectangle with Clow's magic circle stretched across it. The picture glowed and from it a long pouch appeared. Sakura grabbed it and opened it.

"Cards?"

"Clow Cards," Cerberus nodded.

"But…they're blank…"

"There's one for every soul that needs to be collected. When you capture one, the right picture will appear."

Sakura seemed genuinely excited until Meiling spoke.

"Now, hold on a minute!" Everyone turned their heads towards her.

"How come _she _gets to do all of this?" she cried, "We're the descendants of Clow Reed! She's NOT! We should have a right to…" Syaoran stopped her.

"Sorry, Meiling, but I don't think that's going to help our case here," he told her. She puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

"We were given a mission to collect these souls ourselves," Syaoran explained.

"By who?" Cerberus asked.

"Her aunt," he motioned to Meiling, "My mother. She is the head of the Li family. She told us we need to bring balance to this…magic that's been created. Fix it in some way…"

Cerberus pondered over this seriously.

"There's no way to 'fix' a technique of magic. A person can use it and improve techniques, thus discovering new forms of magic. It can't be created or destroyed. So…your 'mission' doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If what you need to do is capture the spirits of Clow, then…do what you want. You just won't have the book."

Syaoran was now livid. He was merely doing what he was told, which he kept telling himself was the right thing, and here this so-called Creature of the Seal was down-sizing the importance of what they had to do. He knew Clow Reed needed to be defeated. He needed to restore the Li family name, even if the name meant very little to this stuffed toy, it gave Syaoran a feeling of pride.

Meiling gripped his shoulder, calming him down.

"Well, fine then!" she decided, "We don't need the book, anyways. If we can capture those spirits on our own, we _will_."

She grabbed her cousin's hand, and they stormed off. Rather, Meiling stormed off dragging a discouraged Syaoran behind her. They left down the guillotine hallway.

"I'll have to deal with that as it comes," murmured Lord Death, as he rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Is there a chance that these souls…er…spirits…could corrupt the user in any way?" Liz asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Cerberus frowned, "I may know some things in that book, but there's still some things I don't quite understand."

"Maybe I could help with that!" Maka piped up, "Since I'm one of Ms. Kinomoto's…er Sakura's teachers, I could decipher some pieces of texts and help guide her…along with your help, of course."

Cerberus looked at the woman with curiosity.

"I used to capture souls with my partner here," Maka explained, motioning to her husband beside her, "We might be able to help her. Is this only something Sakura can do?"

"Her and those bratty descendants of Clow," Cerberus answered, "Getting your other students involved may not be the best idea."

"Still, if there's danger that Clow Reed and these spirits can bring," Kid added, "we'll still need to teach the students how to defend themselves."

The other adults nodded. Cerberus agreed after a brief thought.

"I guess we now have a plan of action…sort of…" Tomoyo beamed.

So…this was it. Sakura now had a big assignment. She heard she might have to fight scary creatures called kishin, but she didn't expect to be fighting against someone similar to her: a magic user. She certainly didn't expect the two Li cousins to have the same task as her. They were mean at times, but they certainly seemed more experienced, as far as knowledge of magic and of this Clow Reed guy they were talking about. She didn't know nearly as much. She might not be strong enough to defeat this mysterious hooded figure. But she was able to open a book with a powerful seal on it, which she supposed counted for something.

"I still can't get over that your name's Cerberus," Maka muttered, shaking her head, "And why are you so keen to help us, if Clow Reed created you?"

"Well, I AM supposed to adhere to the person who opened the book and woke me up, so I guess I'll just go from there."

"Well, rest assured, if you turn on us for any reason at all…" Maka glared, "We won't be so kind…"

Cerberus took a big gulp of air.

"I'll…try to remember that."

"Say…you know what I think?" Tomoyo piped up.

Everyone turned to her.

"For such a cute guy, we need a cute nickname!" she cheered.

"Hey, I TOLD you I'm NOT cute," the small creature cried, "I'll have you know that my TRUE form is super awesome."

"Oh, I'm sure it is! And I suppose you're not taking that form because your power's weakened from that whole 'protecting the book' sort of thing?"

"Not a bad guess, little lady," Cerberus nodded.

"It's just hard to call you Cerberus in the state you're in," Tomoyo giggled.

"So, what else could we call him?" Patti asked.

"HEY! I'm not some pet! Don't go changing my name!" the creature cried.

"How about Cubby!" Patti cried.

"Nah, I think something closer to the sound of his actual name would be better," Tomoyo retaliated.

"THEN JUST CALL ME BY MY NAME! WHY ARE WE EVEN-"

"Ooo! Keroberos!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Isn't that the same name though?" Patti asked.

"It's a different pronunciation of it."

"It's still too long."

Cerberus continued to simmer as Sakura pondered over the idea as well. Then, she got an idea.

"How about Kero-chan!" Sakura suggested.

"Oh, now THAT'S cute," Maka chimed in. The two men in the room just stayed out of it, as the Creature of the Seal, now Kero-chan, continued to bicker over his new nickname.

* * *

"How exactly are we going to catch the spirits of Clow without the book?!" Syaoran exclaimed.

The two cousins were walking down one of the school's many hallways now. The pride from the moment had now faded. They went from being brave and stubborn in the face of a challenge to scared and unsure of the dangers ahead. Meiling tried to be optimistic about it.

"Well, what do we need that stupid book for anyways?" she retorted, "If we're descendants of Clow, we can get those souls easy peasey!"

"If being descendants of Clow made so powerful, we would've been able to open that stupid book…" he mumbled, dragging his feet until he finally leaned up against a wall and slid down, finding a seat on the floor. His cousin stopped, looked at him with concern and sat down next to him.

"Maybe we won't _need_ all that power," she assured him, "We just need to put our best foot forward! Good, ol' fashioned elbow grease!"

He wanted to believe her, but he wasn't so sure. He just wanted to be powerful. He didn't want to feel so useless. If he couldn't do what his mother…his family asked of him, what was the point of being here?

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, saw his cousin put an arm around him, and she leaned her head against his.

"We can do this," she encouraged, "We brawn and wit. That's all we need."

Syaoran smiled only a little. While he didn't feel completely at ease, he did feel a little better. He didn't have to do this alone. He had Meiling, and that was enough.


	7. Chapter 6: Windy

AN: There are…52 of these cards. I will do my darndest to NOT do a chapter for every single one. I don't mind writing this one bit, but I don't want it THAT lengthy. Alright, it's soul catching time!

* * *

According to the book, the spirit had to return to it's basic form before they could capture it in a card. This was where Maka's teaching came into play, teaching the girls how they would defeat what the school used to call "kishin." While capturing them was easily explained in the pages of The CLOW, reaping these spirits was a little different.

Then, a curious thing happened. With Tomoyo being a scepter, the only way they could fight these spirits would be with spells. While flipping through the book, Tomoyo came across two pages stuck together. When she flipped the pages apart, she saw a strange spell.

_Morphing into a Blade_.

While Sakura talked with Maka about fighting techniques with a rod-like weapon, using a mop as a demonstration, Tomoyo read the pages she found carefully.

She and Sakura would have to be resonating. Both of them would have to have a similar picture of a blade-like weapon in their minds.

"Sakura?" called Tomoyo.

" 'Sup girlie?" Sakura hopped over next to her friend.

"You think we can do _this_ right here?" she pointed at the pages she read.

"Ms. Albarn-Evans?" Sakura called to her teacher, as she walked over to the two girls.

"It's…" Maka sighed out of frustration, "…you gotta call me Ms. Albarn during school hours, okay? Sorry. Anyways, what's up?"

"Sorry, I forgot. Anyways, Tomoyo found _this_."

Maka scanned over the pages.

"Huh…how convenient…" their teacher huffed, "That just makes our job a little easier."

"How so?" Sakura asked.

"Well, you see, I don't know squat about magic. We had a teacher here that knew more, but she quit."

"Some personal reasons?" Tomoyo enquired.

"…yeah…how'd you guess?"

"Tomoyo's always had this great intuition," Sakura chirped.

"What happened exactly?" Tomoyo asked.

"Well…" Maka looked around, "You didn't hear it from me, okay?"

Sakura and Tomoyo made a motion of locking their lips tight and throwing away the key.

"Okay," Maka sighed. She felt close to these girls already. It wasn't really right to give out personal info about teachers, but something about being with these two made her feel less like a teacher and more like a student again.

"She used to be hitched to one of the other teachers here. His name's Ox Ford. He's got a daughter here. She's in your class…"

"Who?" Sakura asked.

"Beth…" Tomoyo breathed.

"Beth Diehl?"

Maka nodded.

"Her mother's got custody. Her name's Kim Diehl. She…ran off with her weapon partner."

"So…she was in love with someone else…" Sakura muttered.

"Yes…"

"Do you know who he is?" Sakura assumed.

Maka paused.

"_Her_ name is Jackie Dupre."

Sakura blushed, embarrassed.

"Oh, gosh," she stammered, "I shouldn't have assumed that it was a guy ohdamnwhydoidothat…"

Tomoyo patted her friend's shoulder, smiling sweetly.

"It's okay, Sakura."

Sakura smiled back, shyly, and the girls giggled in relief. It was in this moment that Maka's soul perception, an ability she used sparingly, saw their souls in more detail. Sakura was eminating friendly waves. She was a kind soul, who loved everyone she met unconditionally. She was also very spirited and courageous, even if she didn't see it in herself.

Tomoyo, on the other hand, had somewhat different waves, but her personality was very similar to her friend's. She was a quieter sort of soul, who was very cunning and witty. Her waves were VERY different from Sakura's though. While Sakura seemed to have a deep love for Tomoyo as a friend and companion, Tomoyo seemed to eminate stronger waves. Almost…like a romantic connection.

Tomoyo was exactly like Jackie. She was in love with her meister. Her best friend.

As soon as they snapped out of their all-too inappropriate conversation, at least by school standards, they began trying the spell.

"So Ms. Albarn was telling me about her partner, Mr. Evans?" Sakura started, holding Tomoyo, who was now the scepter with the bird's head.

"What about him?" Tomoyo wondered.

"His weapon form is a scythe!"

"Really?!" her friend said, playfully.

"Yeah, it's this cool red and black blade."

"Oooooo! You wanna try for a scythe for this?"

"Sure! You up for it?"

"Only when you are, Sakura."

The two girls got in position, and Maka stood away with the book in her hands.

"Alright, girls, have a picture of a blade-like weapon in your mind," Maka instructed.

The girls closed their eyes. Sakura envisioned what Maka Albarn's scythe would've looked like. Tomoyo saw the red beak of her weapon form turn into a long, scythe-like blade. As their resonance strengthened, Sakura began to see the image that Tomoyo was seeing.

"Do you have it?" their teacher asked.

They nodded.

"Good. Now, Ms. Sakura, I need you to chant this spell for me…" and her teacher began to read alound.

_Soul of Metal, bend to my will. Create a new shape, that I may cut down adversity. Lend me your power! RELEASE!_

Sakura repeated the spell after Maka spoke, and she spun Tomoyo and lifted her into the air. Clow's magic circle shone under Sakura's feet as Tomoyo glowed a heavenly light before the red beak of the scepter transformed into a long, red scythe blade. The pink rod of the scepter grew longer and the white wings near the blade grew bigger. Tomoyo was now a scythe, coming a little over Sakura's height.

"Well done, ladies!" Maka cheered, as the magic circle disappeared, "Wanna try some of those moves I was teaching you?"

Sakura nodded, enthusiastically, and she began twirling Tomoyo in a different fashion, Unlike the baton twirling moves she did before, Sakura began moving her whole body with her weapon, almost like they were dancing.

It went slow at first, as Sakura tried getting used to the size of the scythe, and Tomoyo adjusted herself to her partner's movements. Then, they picked up speed with more confidence, as Sakura, unintentionally, slashed through the teacher podium in the room.

The podium split into three pieces, as soon as the two stopped their movements, and Sakura panicked as soon as she saw the sliced pieces of wood.

"OH GOSH! OH GOD I…I'M SO SORRY!" the new scythe meister cried in distress.

Maka brushed the dilemma off.

"It's fine," she said, "Happens all the time."

It was this that caused Maka to start giggling.

"You know, the same thing happened to me when I first started here!"

At this, Sakura and Tomoyo joined in their instructor's laughter. Tomoyo morphed back into her human form.

"Really?" Sakura exclaimed, still giggling.

"Yeah. Although, I…heh heh! I…I split the podium _and_ the teacher's desk! HA HA!"

The ladies continued to giggle, until Maka finally calmed down and went over to gather the pieces.

"Alright, that's enough for today. I'm gonna let Sid know we need a new podium. Next time, I'll bring some stuff you can _really _slice up."

* * *

The first couple of souls were fairly easy. They weren't dangerous, as Sakura thought they'd be. They were just…a nuisance.

Tomoyo ran into one of the spirits while taking a bubble bath. There were bubbles _everywhere_ in their student apartment. They stayed at Touya's apartment, which was close by, to her father's great relief.

Catching them took a few tries, given how fast they were. The one that bubbled up the apartment certainly wasn't very fast. It just liked to hide.

Once they found it, it a quick slash of the scythe and they a spell with the actual scepter…or sealing wand, as they started to call it, in order to capture it in one of the cards.

They looked a little like Tarot cards: a serene illustration of an elaborately dressed person or creature with an inscription of a name at the bottom. This first one, of course, was called The BUBBLE.

A few of these simpler ones were caught very quickly over the next several weeks. By November, they had captured eight: The BUBBLE, SWEET, LOOP, SONG, MOVE, RAIN, CLOUD, and SLEEP. Sakura could see SLEEP, LOOP, and possibly MOVE being useful in battle one way or another, but so far, they just seemed rather useless. The only use she found for SWEET was to help make sweets for Kero-chan to eat, but that got old really fast. And it was hard to get any of the cards to behave against Sakura's will. So, catching them was all a matter of strategy of physical skills rather than with magic.

November hit, and one day the winds outside got very rough. Maka explained that since it's a desert city, they tended to have sandstorms or strong winds come through during some of the seasons. However, something seemed off. During a particularly bad rainstorm during September, that's when the girls came across the RAIN spirit. This wind had the same sort of presence about it.

Sporting stylish pants, a top, and a cloak used to keep wind and sand out of their eyes, Sakura and Tomoyo headed out of the city, where the wind seemed to pick up. Sand became their newest terrain the farther they went.

As they walked more, Sakura saw a shadowy figure up ahead. She tried to make it out who it was before getting too close, but it was still too hard to tell. Sakura decided to take a chance and walk towards it.

"Sakura, let's not! We don't know who it is!" Tomoyo beckoned. She wore a long dress with a similar cloak over it. She sifted her feet through the sand as fast as she could to catch up to her friend.

As Sakura got closer, one figure turned into two. She saw a male and female shape and then…two hair buns?

She figured it out.

"Li! Meiling!" she cried, and the two cousins turned around, both wearing cloaks. Meiling sported a somewhat-traditional Chinese outfit: baggy pants, a long dress with slits down the side and a Mandarin-styled collar, all with white and red fabrics with gold lining. Syaoran wore a matching outfit, only his "dress" was more of a shirt, and the red was replaced with a dark green. The two also sported goggles to keep the sand out of their eyes. As soon as Tomoyo saw the goggles, she made a mental note to get her and Sakura a pair next time.

"What brings you out here? Did you sense a spirit of Clow too?" Sakura asked innocently.

"We felt it earlier," Syaoran answered.

"Yeah, before you two had a clue…" Meiling added, with a bite in her tone.

"It it some sort of sand spirit? Or something else?" Sakura continued to ask.

"It's a wind spirit of some sort," Syaoran said, in a serious tone, "and it seems very upset."

The four of them ducked as they felt a presence speed towards them. The shape swerved back and went towards a rock in the middle of a huge dip in the sand. Sakura looked to see the figure of a woman with long, elegant hair combed back and a sort of feat design on her forehead. She seemed to be putting her face in her hands and crying.

Sakura, feeling sorry of this spirit somehow, began walking ahead of the other three and slid into the ditch.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Syaoran cried.

"THE HELL?" Meiling stammered.

"SAKURA PLEASE COME BACK HERE! YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF!" her friend beckoned. The spirit didn't stir.

"IT'S OKAY," Sakura hollered back, "I THINK SHE'S JUST UPSET!"

"SHE COULD BE TRICKING YOU, KINOMOTO! GET BACK HERE!" Syaoran retaliated, but it was too late to try and convince her. Sakura was already so close.

The spirit seemed to keep weeping as Sakura reached out a comforting hand, like she could touch the woman's shoulder.

"Are you hurt, ma'am?"

The spirit stopped. The winds grew stronger.

"Don't worry! I'm not going to hurt you!" Sakura cooed, and the spirit turned to her.

She seemed to emanate a pale, yellow glow, and her eyes were the same color. They seemed to widen in surprise at Sakura's presence. Sakura then noticed that the woman had long, pointy ears, almost like an elf.

"You are a spirit of Clow, right?" Sakura asked. This seemed to make the woman very upset, as her brow furrowed and she flew into the air, spinning. The winds grew stronger, blowing Sakura to the ground.

"IT'S OKAY!" she cried, "I'M NOT GOING TO HURT YOU! JUST TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG!"

"SAKURA I DON'T THINK THIS IS WORKING!" her friend beckoned.

"KINOMOTO, YOU CAN'T REASON WITH IT!" Syaoran tried to inform her.

"STOP TRYING TO TALK TO THE DAMN THING AND SLASH AT IT!" Meiling cried, as she motioned Syaoran to turn into a sword. Syaoran did so, and Meiling began to taunt the spirit, as it flew towards her.

"COME AND GET ME, YOU BIG WINDBAG!"

She sliced through the spirits body, but nothing happened. It was, literally, like cutting through air. The spirit spun towards the rock again.

"DON'T TAUNT HER! IT'S ONLY MAKING IT WORSE!" Sakura cried.

"AT LEAST I'M DOING SOMETHING, YOU STUPID HOE!" Meiling snapped.

"Meiling, please, don't…" Syaoran muttered.

"WELL SHE IS!"

"DON'T TALK TO MY BEST FRIEND THAT WAY!" yelled Tomoyo.

As the two girls argued with Syaoran trying to calm them down, Sakura tried speaking with the spirit.

"WAS IT ME MENTIONING CLOW THAT UPSET YOU?" Sakura asked. At this the spirit slowed down, sitting down on the rock again, still visibly upset.

"Did he hurt you?" she continued. The spirit only moaned and began to weep.

"I'm sorry. I won't mention him. But…don't worry. I won't let him hurt you again."

The spirit looked at Sakura again. This time she squinted her eyes, as if trying to recognize the person in front of her.

"My name is Sakura," the young meister spoke, "I won't let Clow get to you, okay?"

The spirit's eyes widened as soon as Sakura smiled at her. The spirited spun around, as if overjoyed, and the desert winds seemed to calm down. The spirit took the winds surrounding her and spun herlsef around Sakura, playfully, lifting the girl slightly off the ground.

The three other teenagers looked over in surprise. Sakura giggled, as she felt light breezes surrounding her, blowing her cloak around gracefully. She spread her arms open, sending waves of her soul through her body and letting them emanate to the spirit surrounding her. As the spirit smiled gently, she placed Sakura gently back on her feet. She looked at Sakura straight in her eyes, as if she was seeing an old friend. Holding Sakura's face in her wispy hands, she kissed the young meister on the forehead.

Sakura, greatly confused by this, squeaked and the spirit made what sounded like a giggle before spinning her form into a smaller, spherical shape. The wind around them blew strongly, causing Sakura to shield her face. When she opened her eyes, the spirit was now in the shape of a soul, round and gelatin like. Unlike good souls, which were blue, or kishin souls, which were red, or even witch's souls, which were usually purple, spirits of Clow were a golden color. Sakura held out her hands, cradling the golden jelly-like orb in her palms.

The other three slid into the ditch, running up to Sakura in haste.

"Are you alright?" Tomoyo cried.

"How did you…" Meiling breathed.

"What the hell happened?" Syaoran exclaimed.

"I'm…I'm not sure…" Sakura replied weakly, and then, "But yeah um…Tomoyo, I need to…seal it…"

Tomoyo nodded. She turned into the sealing wand, and Sakura grabbed a card out of her pouch. She repeated the spell she practiced with the first eight.

"_Return to the form you were meant to be! CLOW CARD!_"

And with that, the soul swirled itself into the stiff piece of paper, glowing until a picture began to form.

This spirit was called The WINDY.

Tomoyo turned back into a human, as Sakura stared at the card.

"What are you thinking, Sakura?"

"I dunno," she replied, "…but…it was like the spirit…knew me…"

"Why is that, you think?" Syaoran asked, genuinely curious.

"I…I don't know," Sakura mumbled to herself.

"Well, another card is captured, and I suppose that's all that counts for the time being, right?" her friend chimed in.

"Yeah…I guess…" and Sakura put the card in the pouch with the rest of them.

"DAMMIT!" Meiling cursed, "Even when we find before you, you still catch it! That's not fair."

"Let it go, Meiling," her cousin finally snapped.

"But..."

"Look, it's obvious that I can't reap any of these kinds of souls! You saw how I just cut through the wind like that! Let's just…"

Syaoran sighed and didn't bother to finish.

"Let's just head back before the sun beats down on us," Tomoyo suggested, and everyone began treading through the sand.

The skies began to clear, but the group grew uneasy, as they returned to Death City.


	8. Chapter 7: Swallow

AN: So…I wonder if any of the other spirits are gonna be like WINDY. … Nah, probably not. Welp! **_TRIGGER WARNING: EMETOPHOBIA_**

* * *

There, of course, would have to be more windy sandstorms over the course of the group's adventures. The SAND more or less flooded the streets of Death City with sand. Luckily, with some time and patience, Sakura used SAND to clean the city back up.

Then, there was The FLY spirit, a gigantic bird that flew over the city, causing gusts of wind. It acted the same as WINDY. However, as quickly as it came, it disappeared before Sakura, Tomoyo, or even the Li cousins could grab it.

After a night of dreaming, Sakura had a vision of a small bird with a bloodied ankle. As she reached for the creature, it flapped straight into her arms, as if it too recognized her. It began to coo and chirp happily. But soon, it's chirps were replaced with the sound of her alarm, waking her up to be ready for the day.

Sakura put on her DWMA school uniform: Black, long-sleeved shirt, with a white sailor's collar, a white tie at the front of the collar that looked like Lord Death's signature skull mask, a maroon plaid skirt with ruffles showing below, long black socks, and her long black boots with bubblegum pink soles.

Sadly, Sakura had outgrown her old rollerblades. However, after some store hunting she and Tomoyo did over one free weekend, she found a special pair of strap-of rollerblades. She strapped them onto her boots, readied her safety pads on her knees and elbows, put on a pair of padded, fingerless gloves, and she was ready to go.

While gliding down the cobblestone streets that somewhat smoothed down over time on some streets, she noticed branches growing through some of the cracks. Deciding she had time to spare before classes, she followed the strange growths down an alley, as they grew larger and larger. At the end of the alley way were plants of all sorts: vines, small wildflowers, and other various fauna, all of it most green. Sakura looked up to see the shape of a woman coved in vines coming from the wall.

When this woman saw Sakura, joy spread across her face, as she let a vine reach out and touch Sakura's shoulder. In a panic, she jumped away from the moving vine, but then the vines grew numerous and began to wrap around her. Sakura was now terrified, fearing the woman would suffocate her with plant life. But then, it occurred to Sakura that the vines weren't squeezing her tightly. They were holding her in an embrace of some sort. However, as Sakura struggled, it was clear this embrace was going to last too long to Sakura's liking.

It happened so quickly. There was a slashing noise. She heard branches and vines snap, and then the felt the vines release her as the womanly entity screamed in pain.

As Sakura fell, she felt someone catch her. A man…a boy close to her size. She looked up.

"Li?"

Syaoran had a determined look on his face. One arm held Sakura protectively while the other arm was in front of them, a blade jutting out of his forearm. The vine-covered woman became frightened, as Syaoran began motioning for a magical attack. Sakura recognized it.

He was going to set the woman on fire.

"No, wait!" Sakura cried, reaching for his blade arm and pushing it down.

"But…it was trying to hurt you, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Well…no…I don't think so. Here, help me up."

He let go of her and helped her on her feet. The woman was still shaking.

"It's okay," Sakura cooed, "We're not gonna hurt you."

At this, the woman relaxed a little. Syaoran turned his arm back to normal, holding his hands up in submission.

"See?" Sakura pointed out, and Syaoran slowly nodded. The woman sighed in relief. She seemed to float away from the wall, vines and branches following her, and she stood in front of the two of them.

She looked at Sakura and then Syaoran, her mouth slowly turning into a smile before she morphed her body into a spherical shape, and her plants swirling into a small vortex before them.

The green turned to gold, and the woman was now a golden, gelatin orb. A spirit of Clow.

"We…we did it!" Sakura breathed.

"Well…_you_ did it," Syaoran tried to correct her.

"Noooo, I meant _we_."

"But…I didn't do anything…"

"That's not true, Li. You freed me. Even though she didn't mean any harm, I don't think she would've let me go, if you hadn't come. So…thank you!"

Syaoran looked at her, genuinely surprised. She was smiling as cheerful as she usually did. He felt his soul relaxing a little, as if being near her gave him some sort of peace of mind. He couldn't explain why that was, though.

They walked out of the alley, the sun shining brighter than ever. Sakura saw that Syaoran was sporting a bicycle. He dug through his pocket to find his phone and look at the time. It read 8:15 a.m.

"Well, I wonder how I'm going to hold onto this…" Sakura pouted. Her backpack was full, and she felt strange just holding it in her hands. She searched frantically for something for something to use. Syaoran scratched his head.

"I could … carry it and give it to you when we get to class," he suggested.

"You can?"

"Yeah, I'm…a weapon. Maybe I could…I dunno…"

Sakura frowned and then it hit her. She remembered something about weapons being able to swallow kishin souls. Would this count though? The spirits were certainly troublesome, but they weren't necessarily evil (not all of them, anyways). She didn't know if this would affect Syaoran in any way or even if he would ever really give it back to her. He was trying to capture these spirits of Clow as well.

After a moment of silence, Sakura breathed out a heavy sigh.

"Okay, you can carry it. Only if you promise to give it back as soon as you see me in class!"

"I promise," he told her, face cold and serious.

"Pinky swear?"

She held out her pinky, and he looked down, shocked. He cheeks went red at such an innocent gesture. He hadn't done this sort of thing. Not really since he and Meiling were about seven. Hesitantly, he stuck his pinky out, cheeks red in embarrassment. The two fingers wrapped around each other, and with a small squeeze and light shake, the pinky swear was complete.

Sakura handed the soul over to Syaoran, who stared at it for a second. As he looked up, Sakura rolled away, waving behind her.

"SEE YOU IN CLASS!" she called, smiling wide, and he waved a little back. He looked at the soul once again. Thankfully, it wasn't immense in size, and with one gulp, Syaoran swallowed the spirit of Clow. He hopped on his bike and quickly headed to class.

* * *

"There you are! What the hell took you so lon- …Are you okay?"

Meiling looked worried as Syaoran sat down in his seat, his face pale; maybe even a little green. His eyes looked sunken into his skull as he sat down, wrapping his arms around himself.

" 'M fine…" he chocked out. Meiling didn't look convinced.

"You seemed fine this morning. What the hell happened?"

"There was…a Clow…spirit…I…caught it…"

"WHAT?! Really? Where is it?"

Syaoran motioned towards his stomach.

"I…swallowed…it…"

Meiling's jaw nearly dropped out of her socket.

"Th…said…weapons…could eat…souls…and…"

"Well, YEAH, if they're evil!" Meiling corrected, "Spirits of Clow are on, like, the borderline of good and evil, so…Syaoran, I don't think you should've…"

"Iknowiknow…"

"Well…what do we do?!"

"mmmidunno…" he mumbled, as he began twitching, "I tried upchucking it…all I did was…barf my breakfast…and…"

Before he could finish his thought, Syaoran collapsed onto the desk.

"Syaoran? SYAORAN?" Meiling cried, but he was passed out. People began to murmur, as Meiling tried to shake her cousin awake.

His thoughts spun, and he felt as though the whole world was tilting. Everything around him was liquid as he stared at his own reflection.

At least…that's what he thought it was. Upon closer inspection, it was another person. A doppelganger. The only difference was that the other Syaoran's right eye was a bright shade of blue. His shirt was black and ripped to shreds, with sleeves coming just above his elbows. His pants were baggy and he wore clunky black boots. His mouth, shockingly, was covered in blood, as were his hands.

"Syaoran…" he whispered, as he reached out to him through the murky darkness.

Syaoran felt as though he recognized this image in some way. Aside from this person looking almost exactly like him, this exact moment felt as though it happened before.

Images flashed before his eyes. A man with blonde hair and blue eyes. His eyes shutting. His left eye socket crying tears of blood. A man with short black hair and red eyes. A sword. No…two swords. He reached of one. There was fire. The whole world was on fire. He felt as through his flesh was searing off his body. He wanted to scream.

He couldn't.

Outside his mind, Maka Albarn-Evans tried waking him. A woman with dark brown skin, bright blue eyes, and bandages wrapped around most of her face, tried tending to him, lifting him up and dabbing his forehead with a cool, wet cloth.

Sakura came into the room, after removing her skates and taking some time in the restroom. She saw the crowd of people huddled in one area of the room and quickly walked over.

With some pushing and shoving, she saw an unconscious Syaoran, pale, green, and sweating. She moved over and sat next to him.

"What happened?!"

"He apparently swallowed a spirit of Clow…according to his meister here," Maka explained, pointing to Meiling.

"I haven't seen a fit like this in ages…" the bandaged woman, Mira Nygus, said, "Not since…"

"Asura…Crona…the black blood…" Maka whispered so low that not all of the student could here.

Sakura looked at the pale young man, an ache forming in the pit of her stomach. She placed a hand on his shoulder, earning her a glare from Meiling.

As she tried to ignore Meiling's harsh stare, Sakura closed her eyes, hand still on Syaoran's shoulder, as she tried to maybe find his soul wavelength. She felt that was the best she could do.

Syaoran felt his skin begin to cool, the searing sensation starting to fade. The images started fading away, and his doppelganger disappeared. New images came to his mind.

There was a girl. Cherry blossom petals fell around her. He couldn't see her figure very well, but a light surrounded her silhouette as she reached a hand out to him.

The presence felt warm and safe. He felt calm now, as he grabbed the girl's hand, light blinding his vision.

His eyes opened. His head was leaning on Sakura's hand resting on his shoulder.

As he sat up, he felt the urge to vomit. Something round was coming up his throat. He began gagging.

"Oh geez…ALRIGHT KIDS, BACKIT UP!" cried Nygus, and the children immediately obeyed, except for Sakura and Meiling sitting on either side of him.

Sakura started rubbing his back.

"Stop that…" Meiling gritted out.

"I'm just _trying_ to _help_," Sakura hissed as something gold and slimy came out of Syaoran's mouth.

It was the spirit of Clow, covered merely in saliva and, thankfully, nothing else.

There was a sigh of relief throughout the room. Meiling gripped Syaoran in a tight hug.

"OH THANK GOD! YOU HAD ME SO WORRIED!"

Sakura let out a breath of air, patting Syaoran on the back. Tomoyo rushed over, a paper towel in her hands. She took the soul and wiped any excess drool off of it as well as his hands. Color began to return to Syaoran's face, and he sighed in relief.

He looked over and saw Sakura smiling at him, and he immediately felt his stomach sink. He thought he was going to puke again. Luckily, he didn't really have to.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked. Syaoran tried to rub the back of his head as Meiling loosened her grip on him.

"Well…I'm definitely feel better…a little lightheaded…"

"Here you go, hun," Nygus chimed, as she handed him a pack of oyster crackers and some water, something that would be light on his stomach.

"I was just…trying to…carry it…I thought…" he stuttered. Sakura stopped him.

"It doesn't matter at this point. I'm just glad you're okay," she smiled.

"Why…"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you so nice to me?"

Sakura giggled.

"I guess…that's just how I am."

Syaoran stared at her. He really couldn't believe someone so nice could exist. No one is this nice. He _swallowed _a soul, one that was rightfully hers. If it had stayed in his body, she might never see it again. Was she…forgiving him somehow? Was she secretly holding a grudge against him for it and would turn on him when he least expected it? He wasn't sure.

However, he could feel her soul wavelength radiating on him. It felt warm and welcoming. It felt like the best feeling in the world. He didn't want it to leave.

To Meiling annoyance, Syaoran handed over the soul he swallowed. Tomoyo and Sakura held a blank Clow Card in their hands, chanted the spell, and the soul was sucked into the piece of paper and plastic.

The card read The WOOD.

As the class began to settle, Maka started her lessons for the day. She kept it to a short lecture, due to all the turmoil. As the bell rang, Sakura and Syaoran went their separate ways for the moment. He could feel the warmth of her soul fading away as she walked with Tomoyo down the hall.


	9. Chapter 8: Time

AN: Kero and Yukito have been away for a while. So…let's…bring them back, shall we? Somehow? Also, have Soul and Maka being teachers some more…

* * *

"Let's see here…after tonight's capture, we now have….nine ten…_TWELLLVE_ CLOW CARDS!"

Cerberus, now Kero-chan or Kero, yelled enthusiastically as the two girls sat with the collected cards in hand. Sakura jumped up, clutching each other's hands and bouncing in excitement.

"We're doing it, Sakura!" Tomoyo cheered.

"I KNOW! WE'RE SO CLOSE!" Sakura cried.

Kero looked at them with an eyebrow raised.

"Almost there?"

"Well…we have twelve, right? Certainly, we're close to gathering all of these spirits, right?" Tomoyo answered, inquisitively.

"You only have a few of them, girls," Kero replied, "There's still a LOT more left to catch."

"How many more are there? Or…how many spirits are there, exactly?" Sakura asked anxiously.

"Fifty-two…no…fifty-three," Kero said.

"**FIFTY-THREE?!**" the girls cried.

"Yup," Kero nodded, "This isn't something that's gonna be over in just a few months. This could take the whole school year."

"But it's Christmas time!" Sakura cried, "Can't we, I dunno, take a vacation from this or something?"

"Sorry, ladies, you've still gotta find them over the holiday break."

Sakura and Tomoyo sat back down, sulking. Then, Tomoyo seemed to get an idea.

"How about we invite our families down here?" she suggested.

"Uh…my dad doesn't really know why I go here…I dunno if that's such a good idea…" Sakura said sadly.

"Why haven't you told him?"

"…. I know it's gonna sound dumb…"

"I don't mind dumb," her friend teased. Sakura giggled.

"Okay…. I guess…I just don't want him worrying about me. He's already busy with teaching at the university back home. I know how dangerous this all is…and…I don't think he'll understand that I can handle it, and, like….ugh… I dunno…."

Tomoyo listened intently to her friend. Sakura seemed to be struggling, mentally.

"Tell me what you're thinking…" Tomoyo said, earnestly.

"I feel like I'm on some sort of autopilot. Like…keeping this a secret is what I'm supposed to do. But…it doesn't feel like what I want to do…"

"Then, what _do _you want to do?"

"I…want him to know…he's my dad. If I keep this a secret…it's gonna come out sooner or later…"

"Then, that's what I think you should do," Tomoyo smiled.

Sakura breathed for a moment and smiled as well.

"I already told my mother," Tomoyo admitted, "She…took it well, to some extent…"

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Well, she was shocked at first, of course! Then, after settling down, she said she'd try to see if we could find help for me, managing my gift. We found the DWMA brochures, and here we are!"

Kero rested on Sakura's shoulder.

"Don't worry, kiddo. You're gonna be fine."

Sakura nodded, feeling confident about the future ahead. She grabbed Tomoyo's hand.

"C'mon, let's go home. I'm beat. How about you?"

Tomoyo's cheeks flushed, but she smiled.

"Yeah…me too…"

The girls along with Kero on Sakura's shoulder ran down the empty streets. Sakura pulled out the new card they caught. It had a picture of a small, rabbit-like creature with tiny wings on it. She and Tomoyo held it out, and yelled it's name.

"_JUMP_!"

Small wings appeared on Sakura's shoes. Grabbing Tomoyo's hand, they hopped through the air, bouncing from house to house, giggling along the way, as they reached their apartment.

* * *

"Hello?"

Sakura swallowed after hearing her father's voice on the line.

"Hey, dad."

"Sakura! Oh, it's so good to hear your voice. How are you?"

"I'm good, dad."

"So…I hear that Christmas break is coming up…"

"Yeah…I wanted to talk to you about that."

"…What is it, sweetheart?"

"Well…big bro and I were wondering…if you'd like to come and visit us?"

There was a pause.

"Let me check on something…"

Sakura felt tension in her shoulders as she heard the sound of paper, like pages flipping.

"Okay, Christmas break doesn't start for another week for us, here in Tomoeda. Is that gonna be okay?"

"That's fine, dad."

"Well, if you're okay with it…I would _love_ to come over and visit you."

Sakura gasped in excitement.

"Oh thank you! Thank you, dad!"

"No problem, sweetheart. What's the weather like?"

"Warm…"

"Really? In December?"

"It's in the desert, so we really don't get snow."

"Well, that will certainly make packing much lighter."

They both laughed.

"Okay, well, I will see you all in a week, okay? I gotta go! Need to grade these midterm papers."

"Okay…"

"…. I love you, dear."

"I love you, too, dad."

"Tell Touya I love him too."

"Will do."

"Bye, Sakura!"

"Bye, dad."

She pressed the END buttom on her cell.

* * *

Winter break began. Most kids went home. However, some stayed behind to enjoy the comfortably warm weather. Either parents and guardians were coming to visit or some children had no guardians to speak of.

Maka sat at the kitchen table, finishing up loading the midterm grades into the computer. Soul did the same.

"So…here's something weird…how's that Syaoran kid doing in your class?"

Maka raised an eyebrow but answered immediately.

"All As. Why?"

"This kid is _killing_ it in my class. Like…I see him practicing sometimes in the classroom after class is over, right? I went over to him and told him his grade was already excellent. But he just thanked me and went straight back to practicing."

"So…what's your point?"

"He's reminding me of you…" he finally admitted, "He works too hard for all those As. It's weirding me out."

"Great, I remind you of a thirteen-year-old boy," his meister teased.

Soul looked up, giving her an eye roll, before they both started laughing.

"Okay, that one was pretty good, Maka," Soul chuckled, "But, nah, he's just a hardworker…an overachiever like you."

"Aaww, you're so sweet," his wife replied, with only a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Yeah, but, anyways, get this. I just found it weird because Black«Star's been telling me what a little shit he can be."

"Really…"

"Yeah, which seemed strange given his work ethic. So, I ended up talking to him after class one day. He _did_ give me some grief one time. I think he just doesn't like me, for whatever reason."

"I know the feeling."

"Right, so anyways, I pull him aside. Ask him what's wrong. Tells me he's been feeling like a burden. Like he can't do anything right."

Maka looked up and frowned. She seemed concerned.

"So, I decided to give him some advice. Told him how important his role as weapon is. He has a duty to protect his meister. He seemed to understand that pretty quickly. I told him all he has to do is protect his meister. Guide him or her in the right direction, you know? You gotta help them like they help you."

Maka smiled.

"Good advice," she said.

"Yeah, well…it's the least I could do."

"I told you that you'd make a good teacher, didn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"You didn't believe me, but I knew."

"I still don't believe you."

Maka rolled her eyes before giving him a gentle smiled. He smiled back the same way. He made one last click on the keyboard.

"Okay, I'm all done," he yawned, stretching his arms over his head, "What d' ya want for dinner?"

"What d' we got?"

Soul walked over to the fridge.

"Leftover pizza sound good?"

"Sure."

He grabbed the pizza, put two pieces on each plate, and popped them in the microwave.

"So…what about Sakura's friend?" Maka asked, "How's she doing?"

"All As. I swear, that girl doesn't even have to try."

"So…we got one prodigy and one hard worker, it sounds like."

"What about the meisters? Sakura and um…Meiling?"

"Eh…they passed. Cs and Bs."

"There's a shock."

"Yeah, it's weird. Sakura's the one catching those Clow Souls or whatever, Meiling and her partner haven't gotten _any_."

"_Any_?"

"Zip. Nada. None. Zero."

Before they could finish their thought, the microwave went off. As soon as both pieces were done, Soul sat the plates down. He grabbed Maka a water, which she thanked him for. He grabbed himself a cherry cola.

"You think their success is because of Tomoyo?" Maka asked.

"I can't say…" Soul pondered.

"Maybe it has something to do with Sakura's soul…"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I've been keeping an eye on her in class. Since a student's soul wavelength changes in strength over time, I made sure Sakura was developing at the pace she needs to go."

"And?"

"Well…it's strange. She's very powerful, but…you can tell she's holding back a little, like she's scared she's going to hurt someone. And there seems to be power hidden within her that…I don't think she knows she has."

"That much?"

"Yeah. And I noticed something else…"

Soul started taking a sip of his soda.

"An anti-demon wavelength," she finished.

Soul spat out his drink.

"What?!"

"I _know_! It's weird. I've never seen a witch with that type of ability. And her soul…it's possible that it's…Grigori too…Death, this is all so confusing."

"So…she's a witch…with a Grigori Soul…_and_ an anti-demon wavelength…"

"Seems so…lemme think…Gopher had a Grigori soul…but…hmmm…was he a sorcerer or…yes. Yes, I think he was. So the Grigori soul's not impossible, but…the anti-demon wavelength?"

Maka was lost in her thoughts. Soul took a swig of soda and a bite of pizza before motion to Maka.

"Eat. It'll clear your head."

Maka nodded.

"Sorry, maybe I'm over-thinking it."

"Yeah…just a little," he smirked.

Maka smiled, taking a bite of pizza. It was nice and warm, as she swallowed it down her throat. They ate and drank as they talked.

"Sounds like her soul's like yours…"

"Yeah, a little…her personality is different though. She's a very giving sort of person. She's very…optimistic. Very little will you ever see her upset or angry."

"Sounds a little like her weapon. Although…"

"Although what?"

"She kinda…broods…like…I dunno…some dumbass in class made fun of her weapon form or whatever, and she just…stared this kid down. I thought for a second she was going to snap."

"Did she?"

"Well, she smacked him, after a few more taunts. Then she kinda sat down and…brooded? Is that a word?"

"Yes."

"Okay. But yeah, she was like that until the end of class."

"Huh…I never would've guessed."

"Now, the Li kid, on the other hand…"

"Hot-button temper?"

"Yup!"

"So's his meister. She gets _pissed_ when she messes up or gets picked on. She broke a girl's nose."

"Oh my God…" he started cracking up.

"Yep, said something about wanting to go out with Syaoran or something…then BOOM. Right in the nose."

"She's pretty protective of him, isn't she?"

"Heh…yeah…it's almost like she's got a cru…"

They stopped and looked at each other.

"You don't think…" Soul started.

Then they both shook it off.

"Nah."

Maka took a swig of water.

"That'd be weird," Soul huffed.

"Well, in this country, I'm sure."

"Is it legal where they're from?"

"Possibly…?" Maka typed into the search bar on her laptop, "Well, it's illegal in this state."

"Someone should tell the poor girl."

"Maybe, if they really want to, they can wait and get married in Florida."

"Florida?"

"Yeah, it's legal to marry your first cousin in Florida."

Soul started laughing, and soda nearly blew out of his nose. This, in turn, got Maka laughing.

This was how they would spend most evenings: eating cheap dinner, grading papers, talking about their students. While the excitement of their younger days fighting kishin was gone, they at least had smaller moments like this.

* * *

Meiling finished her last sit-up and got up off the floor. The sun rose, making the sky into a rainbow of warm pinks and oranges, as she looked out the window. It reminded her of mornings back at home. Syaoran would wake her up early to see the sunrise. It was something his mother did with him once. They were five.

One particular sunrise, she asked him to be his bride. They were six.

"But…we're family…right?"

"It doesn't matter, Shao! You and me won'ts be lonely."

"Don't you find boys gross?"

"We won't be gross no more when we're adults. And we won't have to wait for our moms to drive us to our houses. We can be together all the time!"

"I dunno…"

"Pleeeeeeease, Syaoran? I don't wanna be alone when I'm an adult. Do you?"

"Well…no…I guess not…"

"Pinky swear!"

"Yeah…pinky swear…"

It was so innocent then. And then, her mother was gone. The Li family was a matriarchy. While there were men in the family, they were absent and never got involved in the family. She had no one else. All she had now were her aunt and her cousins.

She supposed it was because they were the same age that they got along so well as kids. Now they were teenagers. Things were changing. He would want different things from life. Even though he was still the same person, she could feel that he was already changing, in body…and soul.

She didn't love him romantically. That wouldn't be right for a number of reasons. However, she always felt the need to protect him. She just…didn't know how at this point. These weren't bullies on the playground. There were spirits. There were girls and boys of all kinds. These were changes. Shifts in the universe, for better or worse.

She continued to stare at the sunrise, hoping it would stay there so she wouldn't have to thinking about these things. She wanted it all to stop.

She froze. Literally froze.

And then, a hand grabbed her arm.

"Syaoran?"

"Meiling, come on, we gotta go. It's a spirit."

Syaoran took her hand, and they ran through the house, out the apartment door, and down the hall. When they got outside, there was a clock tower on their building. The second hand stood still as the world around them looked like a static television screen.

"We need to get up there," Syaoran stated.

"Well, how?" his cousin asked.

"Resonate with me," he commanded. She seemed taken aback.

"It's okay. I'll turn into a weapon, and we'll take this one out this time."

Her face looked conflicted. He seemed more confident today, for some reason. They couldn't catch these things. It was clear, in their many attempts before.

"We can do this," he assured. Despite her doubt, she forced herself to believe him, even if it would turn out to be a lie. She gripped his hand tightly.

They had to move forward.

His body shifted, and he was now a sword in her hands.

"Try the wind spell. Like we practiced?" he reminded her. She nodded and began to chant.

"**PETALS OF WIND, ANSWER MY CALL!**"

Wind surrounded her, as Syaoran used his soul wavelength to direct it. She flew through the air towards the clock tower. She landed gently on a ledge, where an opening for the bell on top stood. A elderly figure in a cloak held a staff and an hourglass.

"You okay?" Syaoran asked.

"Huh? Oh—yeah…'m fine," Meiling heaved.

Suddenly they stopped. They couldn't move. This elderly man had them frozen in place. Then, Meiling heard a voice in her mind.

_"Meiling…"  
"Syaoran?!"_

_ "Meiling, Can you hear me?"_

_ "Yeah…"_

_ "We're talking through our resonance…sort of…"_

_ "Oh…okay?"_

_ "You need to use Thunder, okay?"_

_ "Why Thunder?"_

_ "It might stun him for a moment. It'll give us time to reap him."_

_ "How is this happening?! How…Why—"_

_ "I…practiced what I had been learning. Now, we need to use the Thunder spell. I can feel the stiffness loosening on us…"_

Meiling obeyed, forcing her hand to move in the right position. Holding out two fingers, she began chanting.

"**GODS OF THUNDER, ANSWER MY CALL!**"

She felt sparks fly from her fingers. A strike of lightening hit their target, and by then, Meiling and Syaoran were free.

Meiling, seeing the figure couldn't move, decided to leap towards him. With a wave of the sword, the elderly man split in two. It twisted and turned into the Clow Soul, and Meiling grabbed it with her bare hands.

As the two fell, Syaoran turned back into a human, catching Meiling before they hit the ground. Various dusts and debris flew everywhere on their landing. As Syaoran held her in his arms, he let go, sitting up.

"God, are you okay?" Meiling huffed.

"I'm fine," he said, "How about you?"

"Yeah, I'm…I'm good."

They got up and shook the dust off themselves. After looking around, they found a door to get out through, and they came out into a new hallway. In Meiling's grasp was the soul they reaped.

"We got one."

Syaoran stared, eyes wide. They finally caught one by themselves. They got outside, where Sakura and Tomoyo seemed to be waiting.

"Are you guys okay?" Sakura asked anxiously. She was in her pajamas, as was her weapon partner.

"We're fine," Meiling told her calmly, "We caught it."

"You did? That's wonderful!"

"Yeah, but we have no way of sealing it," Syaoran stated. He and Meiling seemed discouraged at this. Sakura noticed this almost immediately.

"Here," she said, "Let me see it…the soul, I mean."

Meiling seemed hesitant, thinking she was going to take it for herself. However, she gave up and handed it over. Tomoyo grabbed a blank card from their pouch, the two chanted the spell, and the soul was now captured. A picture of the elderly man with the staff and hourglass appeared. It read The TIME.

"Here you go," Sakura sing-songed, handing the card over to Meiling.

Meiling raised an eyebrow.

"You serious?"

"Well….yeah! You two are the ones that caught it. It's only fair. Oh! Tomoyo, can you hand me the pouch a sec?"

Tomoyo seemed concerned, but she did so. Sakura dug through the pouch and held out ten blank cards.

"Here, you can keep these for now. You can use them to catch some more. You know the spell to seal them, right?"

Both Syaoran and Meiling nodded weakly, staring at the bright-eyed girl in disbelief.

"Okay! And, you _both_ have to be holding the card, or Meiling's gotta seal it using Li as a weapon, or it doesn't work. If we need some back, we'll let you know, but, we got plenty, so it's all good."

"But…" Meiling began.

"Don't worry," Sakura sighed, "There's like…fifty of these things…"

"**_FIFTY?!_**" Meiling and Syaoran cried out in unison.

"Fifty-three, to be exact," Tomoyo corrected. Everyone groaned at this.

"Well, I guess…how many do you guys have?" Meiling asked.

"Twelve," Sakura answered, "And now, maybe we can catch more! Split between the two of us, we'll cover more ground this way."

"You sure the Creature of the Seal is okay with this?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura gave a very wicked smile.

"What Kero doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, he needs to get over his grudge against you two. You've got a mission, right? So…now, we'll _both_ be getting stuff done."

She winked, and Syaoran looked down, embarrassed. Meiling and Tomoyo both giggled.

* * *

"How come the clock still says 7:00?" Yukito asked.

Touya raised an eyebrow.

"Um…you noticed it?"

"Noticed what?"

"Um…time stopped."

"Oh…really?"

"_Yeah_. Like…the whole area around us became static-like or something, and all the clocks stopped. The second hand stopped."

"Ooohhhh, I thought that static thing was my glasses getting blurry."

The two boys sat on the couch at Touya's apartment. Yukito was a frequent visitor.

"So, why did time stop?" Yukito asked.

"Sakura said she had some special mission thing the school gave her. Must have something to do with it."

"Oh. Has she told you any details?"

"Not really. I don't think she wants me to worry."

"Aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, but something tells me she'll be okay. It's not like she's by herself."

"There's that good intuition of yours."

"Whatever…"

Yukito chuckled. He opened his book, and Touya began flipping through channels. Peace filled the room. They didn't realize it yet, but somehow, their souls were resonating. Like meister and weapon.


	10. Chapter 9: Awareness

AN: We're halfway through Part 1! I'm so excited. And then, I'll be able to get into the meta stuff. That's going to be fun. I will be crying on my keyboard during that period. Also, Resonance Bang Sign Ups are coming up! So there'll hopefully be more than just one story on my account here. J Enjoy.

* * *

Meiling prepared her fighting stance.

"Come and get me," she mouthed quietly. Syaoran stood anxiously at the side, as his cousin faced off a girl with white hair pulled up in a style similar to Meiling's and a light blue fighting costume.

This spirit of Clow apparently liked fistfights, as did Meiling. Their sword attacks seemed to do nothing, so Meiling challenged the spirit to a fight.

The two ladies punched and kicked through the air. This was different from sparring with her cousin, Meiling noticed. Probably because it was another girl and this girl was an even better fighter than the both of them.

When it seemed that Meiling lost, as she landed on her back, face covered in cuts and bruises, she faked to put her opponent off guard and then kicked her from below. The spirit fell to the ground. Meiling grabbed the girl by the arms and put her in a hold. For a while the girl struggled, and then she went limp. Meiling let go and they both got up.

Surprisingly, the girl bowed, admitting defeat. Meiling commanded Syaoran to transform.

"You were a pretty good opponent," Meiling commented to the girl in front of her. With a slash of the sword, the girl smiled as she turned into a Clow Soul and was captured.

Her name was The FIGHT.

* * *

Sakura felt much more relaxed as the week drew out. She and Tomoyo didn't have to go out nearly as much to collect spirits of Clow, much to Kero's disappointment. All they caught that week was The FLOWER, a charming dancing spirit who was enjoying the Christmas parade passing through the city.

It would still be a few days before Sakura's dad arrived, and she had already prepared herself with what she needed to say.

Meanwhile, Syaoran and Meiling already filled all of the blank cards. They caught The FIGHT, POWER, SHOT, MIST, WAVE, STORM, LIBRA, LOCK, SHIELD, and THROUGH. They also had The TIME. Between the two pairs, they all had twenty-four cards. Almost half.

This peace didn't last for long, however. The gusts of wind from The FLY spirit returned, as did Sakura's dreams of the small bird with an injured leg. At the same moment, a pair of spirits, twins in matching outfits, began causing havoc through the city.

The day Sakura and Tomoyo decided to go after the bird, Meiling and Syaoran were also out and ready to fight.

"There are _two _of these damn things running around?" Meiling complained.

"It would seem so," Tomoyo shrugged.

"We'll have to split up, I guess," Sakura suggested, "Tomoyo and I will take care of the bird. Meiling, you and Li can take care of the twins. Here."

She threw them a blank card.

"But…we didn't even ask for…" Syaoran stuttered.

"It's okay. I knew you'd need one," Sakura chirped.

"How?"

"…I dunno…just a feeling, I guess."

Kero flew around and greeted Sakura, then gripping onto her shoulder as another strong gust of wind rolled in.

"Alright, kiddo, let's get movin'! There's two cards loose."

The pairs split up, ready for the business ahead.

"Are you sure you're ready to take on FLY, Sakura? Last time, you didn't do so well," Kero reminded her.

"I know, but I think I figured it out, so…let's do this."

Tomoyo smiled to herself before turning into the sealing wand. As the team got closer to the bird, the winds got stronger, blowing Sakura up into the air.

"_WOOD!_" she summoned, "_Come to my aid!_"

The card released the spirit, as she created a net of vines for Sakura to fall into. As the winds died down, Sakura fell into the net. Standing on the net, she used another card.

"_JUMP!_"

She bounced high into the air, towards the monstrous bird. Before it could flap its wings once more, Sakura embraced the creature.

"It's okay. Don't be scared. No one's gonna hurt you."

The bird began to chirp and coo happily, and it began to shrink. Sakura and the bird then fell down into the vine net still hanging below. Sakura looked at the tiny creature and noticed it's injured leg.

"So you _were_ hurt! You poor thing," she cooed.

"Yeah, poor thing. Blowing us around the city. Feel real sorry for ya'," kero murmured, and Sakura shot him a look. The bird cooed, curling up into Sakura's arms before it turned into a Clow Soul all on it's own.

"We didn't even need to reap it," Tomoyo bemused as she turned back into her human form. The vine net disappeared, and the girls landed smoothly on the ground. They casted their spell, and the bird was safely in the card. A gorgeous bird appeared on the card, leg now healed, and the name read The FLY.

"And now, for the other one…" Kero began.

"WE GOT IT!" a voice shouted behind them. It was Meiling. She and Syaoran ran up with a Clow Card now in their hand. It read The TWIN.

"HOW…" Kero stammered.

"Oh, I gave them a blank one," Sakura answered.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Sakura jumped back.

"Well…they were able to reap a soul, and it seems they're able to catch them, so I gave them some blank cards and let them catch a few…"

"IS _THAT_ WHY WE'VE ONLY BEEN ABLE TO CATCH ONLY TWO SO FAR THIS WEEK?"

"Why are you getting so mad?"

"_YOU'RE_ IN CHARGE OF CATCHING THESE CARDS! NOT THEM! THESE CARDS ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!"

"BUT THEY HAVE A MISSION, KERO! AND THEY WERE ABLE TO REAP SOULS _AND _USE THE SPELL THAT SEALS THEM AWAY," Sakura finally snapped.

Kero groaned in agitation.

"Give them here," he beckoned to Syaoran and Meiling.

"What? NO!" Meiling cried in defiance.

"Kero-chan, they caught those fair and square," Tomoyo interjected.

"I don't care. Sakura's the one with the book. All of the cards belong in the book, so they should hand their batch over."

Sakura grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"If I'm now the owner of the book, and am your master as you so claim, then I can do with you and these cards whatever I please! Now, STOP haggling them and let them have their share! I gave them those blank cards! They were able to reap those spirits of Clow! Let them have what's rightfully theirs!"

Sakura and Kero stared down for a moment before Kero gave up and sighed.

"Fine," he muttered to Meiling and Syaoran, "Just…don't do anything stupid with them, got it?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Syaoran breathed, and the two glared at each other before the pairs went their separate ways.

* * *

"Evenetually, they're going to have to hand them over," Kero told Sakura later.

"But _why_?"

"It's complicated."

"We're all ears."

Tomoyo stood to the side, feeling uneasy as the two of them fought. However, hearing this point in the conversation, she walked over to Sakura, and they both sat down.

"Okay fine," Kero began, "Once you have all of the cards, another guardian of the Clow will show up to give you a test."

"A test?" Sakura asked.

"A test to see if you can really master these powerful spirits and use your magic well. Think of it as, like, a final for school…only a little more…dangerous."

"So it's not enough that Sakura was able to open the book?" Tomoyo asked.

"Well, she's already become more powerful than when she first woke me up. When she's caught all of the cards, her powers will have reached the levels she needs to complete this final test. Depending on how she goes about it, it'll determine how she plans to use these cards: as a disciple of Clow or for her own purposes."

"So…if I don't have all of these cards…" Sakura murmured.

"…you can't complete this final trial."

Sakura's face fell into her hands.

"I know you just wanna get along with these kids, Sakura, but it's not going to get done what we're trying to accomplish. And now that they have those spirits, the chances of getting them back are low."

"We don't need them right now," Sakura stated.

"But…" Kero started.

"Look, I don't know why, but I just have this feeling that we're going about this the right way. I don't really know why. We can trust Meiling and Li. They're our allies now."

"How can you say that's for sure?" Kero cried, "If this is a mission they're supposed to accomplish, we don't know really if they're gonna give those cards to us."

"We don't need them to give those cards to us," Sakura said, "We're going to all work together. I've got a good feeling about this."

Kero looked unsure, but he was done trying to convince Sakura otherwise.

"Whatever you say, kiddo," he said as he floated off to his place in her room, "but don't come crying to me if something goes wrong with this plan of yours."

"I don't really have a plan, Kero-chan," she shrugged nervously, "I just have a good feeling."

"Intuition," Tomoyo interjected.

"Huh?"

"Your intuition is telling you to trust them, and you're following that."

"Oh…yeah, guess so…"

"I think you're doing the right thing. If you think it's the right call, I trust that."

"You've always had a good instinct for things like that."

"You know I'd tell you if something was up, right?"

"Of course!"

Sakura smiled at her, and Tomoyo felt her face heating up.

"You know…I love you very much, Sakura."

"And I love you too, Tomoyo!" her friend giving her the warmest of hugs. It was clear that Sakura didn't know what she meant when she said she loved her. She had said this to her before, and Sakura took it as a sign of their deep friendship. It was a battle she could never win, and Tomoyo didn't know if Sakura would ever understand.

Sakura released her from her embrace and got up.

"I'm making pasta! You want some?"

"Of course," Tomoyo smiled, and Sakura trotted off to the kitchen. Tomoyo's smile remained, but not in her eyes. She was sad. She longed for Sakura to at least acknowledge her feelings. While she wanted Sakura to feel the same way, her desire for Sakura to be happy was even stronger. She was satisfied being her friend, but she would be lying if she said she didn't want to be something more with her friend and now meister.

As Sakura began cooking the pasta in the kitchen, she mulled over her thoughts. She felt something when she hugged Tomoyo. For a moment, she was able to read her friend's wavelength clearly. Tomoyo said she loved her. She took it as a sign of friendship. But then…her wavelength…

Tomoyo was sending her waves of romantic longing. She could feel it clearly. She was never able to read Tomoyo's wavelength like this before. Was it because she was getting stronger? Was she imagining things?

Sakura kept telling herself that she must've been imagining things. There was no way Tomoyo would feel that way about her, right? And then her mind went to the story Ms. Albarn told her. Kim Diehl and Jacqueline Dupre.

No…it was possible. But this was Tomoyo. She had known Tomoyo since third grade. She would've noticed if Tomoyo felt this way.

At least…that's what she thought…

* * *

Sakura was naïve, but she certainly wasn't dumb. She could figure things out on her own, to a certain extent, as most people do. So, when Tomoyo started acting strange around her, she took heavy notice.

It happened when they were catching a spirit causing whirlpools in the water down by the beach. Sakura was having a hard time resonating with Tomoyo, her hands burning when she touched her.

"Sakura? What's wrong?"

"I don't know! My hands feel like they're on fire!"

Sakura couldn't stop thinking about last night. Tomoyo's soul wavelength. Was her best friend really in love with her?

"SAKURA, LOOK OUT!"

Sakura looked up to see water in the shape of a dragon coming towards her. She managed to leap out of the way before the water crashed down where she was last standing.

List night's thoughts would have to wait. Sakura calmed her thoughts, grabbed Tomoyo as the sealing wand, and somehow was able to grasp her again without burning herself. She grabbed a card from her pouch.

"_FLY!_"

The white wings that were on the sealing wand grew larger, and Sakura hopped onto it like a broomstick, flying towards a restaurant by the beach. Some of the water from the ocean, mainly the spirit of Clow, rushed up and followed her. They flew down small halls and stairways until they reached a large freezer open and ready for use.

Sakura landed softly on the ground, the large white wings now shrinking away.

"_WINDY!_" Sakura cried, and the spirit flew out and into the freezer, carrying the cold chill with her.

The water spirit caught up finally revealing its true face. It looked like a small, young mermaid with long, fin-like ears and sharp fangs. As WINDY blew around the water spirit with it's now chilling air, the water spirit began to be covered in frost, it's form freezing around her. Frozen in place, Sakura slashed into the ice, and the spirit was now a Clow Soul. She began casting her spell.

"_Return to the form you were meant to be! CLOW CARD!_"

The soul of the young mermaid was now a peaceful picture with the name The WATERY. The card fell gracefully into Sakura's grasp, and she collapsed to the ground. Tomoyo returned to her real form.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sakura heaved, "It's a good thing that big bro knew about this freezer here! I swear…that guy works twenty jobs…"

Tomoyo embraced her, and Sakura turned red a little. She felt it again in their resonance. Tomoyo's feeling of longing.

"Oh thank goodness! I'm so sorry for hurting your hands back there! Why do think _that_ happened?"

"I…I don't know…"

Their resonance was built on friendship. Clearly Tomoyo's feelings for Sakura weren't really interfering with their resonance. It was Sakura's hesitation on the matter that messed up their link.

Tomoyo noticed her friend was deep in thought.

"Are you really okay?"

Sakura blinked a few times.

"Oh…what? Oh, yeah, naw, I'm fine. I'm just…kinda tired."

The two started flying home when they saw Syaoran and Meiling below. Sakura swooped down to greet them.

"Hey guys!"

The two cousins looked up to see the ever-enthusiastic witch, with Tomoyo turning back into a human.

"So…did you guys find one?" Meiling asked.

Sakura held up The WATERY triumphantly.

"Neat! We found one too!"

Meiling held one where there was a picture of, what looked like, a fish…whale-like creature. It read The FREEZE.

"Aaaww…we could've used that tonight!" Sakura groaned. Tomoyo frowned in disappointment as well.

"Well, too bad!" Meiling teased. Syaoran shot her a look, almost telling her to please stop doing that.

"Anyways, here…" Sakura said, handing Meiling another blank card. When Meiling shifted the card, however, she noticed that Sakura gave them a captured card. It was called The CHANGE.

"Now, we have the same number of cards!" Sakura smiled, "We're even."

Fourteen for fourteen.

Sakura waved goodbye, and the two cousins waved back. When she was gone, Syaoran seemed to be smiling to himself. Then, he shook his head before he felt like he was falling for her charms, as he put it to himself.

"I can't believe what a dope she is," Meiling shook her head.

Syaoran looked at her with disbelief.

"What do you mean?"

"She's just giving us blanks and letting us catch _all _these awesome cards. Then, she just _gives_ us one that they already caught! Is she really that stupid?"

"She's just trying to be fair."

"It's still dumb, Syaoran. C'mon, you gotta admit that."

"Well…no…I don't think it's dumb…"

"Seriously? You're, like, super smart. Like…straight A student, and she's average at best."

"So are you, Meiling."

Meiling's cheeks pinked.

"Whatever, point is, I'd _never_ give her a card that I caught! That'd be stupid."

"Why?"

"Well…because it's mine! I don't have as many as she did, and now we're head to head! We can beat her!"

"This isn't some contest."

"So, it'll prove that I'm the better meister and that we deserve the book! If she can hand us cards like candy, I bet she'd hand over the book in a heartbeat!"

"I don't think that's how that works. And she's not dumb. I don't think she'd ever do that, Meiling."

"What's with you defending her all of a sudden?"

"I'm…THAT'S NOT IT! All I'm saying is that your plan to get the book like that is dumb in and of itself."

"So I'M dumb?!"

"No."

"Well, then WHAT?! Why don't you think she's dumb because she gave us a freakin' card?!"

"It's her way of trying to be nice to us. That's just how she is…I think. If anything, I think she's pretty smart."

"What?! WHY?!"

"She caught a water-like spirit without the card we caught, The FREEZE."

"So?"

"She was saying she could've used that card to catch The WATERY. She froze it somehow, and obviously it was hard to get."

"Well, then, she must've use a freezing spell or something."

"I don't think so. She wouldn't have said that she needed The FREEZE then if that was the case. So they were able to freeze this water spirit and catch it without needing to use this card. She used her surroundings to try and catch it. That alone is a sign of intelligence. We've done the same thing, and we've caught almost as many as her."

Meiling was looking off to the side now, scratching her chin.

"You like her…don't you?"

"Wah! …NO I don't!"

"Oh yeah, no, that right," Meiling teased, "You like the silvery-haired guy at the front desk!"

Syaoran's face went beet red in embarrassment.

"I saw you lookin' at him that one morning in school! You went all red and stammery. Just like when you once saw Ms. Alba—"

"PLEASE STOP."

"Okay, okay. Let's go home, lover boy. We'll have sweet dreams about boys, and girls, and everyone in between."

After that night, their first week of winter break came to a close, and Christmas was close at hand.


	11. Chapter 10: Voice

AN: Hooray! Sakura's aware of Tomoyo's lesbian love. How will she answer?! The desire to femme-slash is strong with this writer, but let's see where the story really takes us. Apparently, it's taking us into December, even though it's June right now. And also…Tomoyo goes through some messed up shit.**_TRIGGER WARNING: PSEUDODYSPHAGIA_**

* * *

"Tomoyo, do you like me as more than a friend?"

She nearly dropped breakfast at this. Tomoyo never heard Sakura asked something like this. She expected her to say something like this to Yukito.

"Wha…? What's this all about?" Tomoyo asked innocently.

"A few days ago…I felt something from…your soul wavelength…"

"Like soul perception?"

"I guess so. But…you soul…it seemed to be…I dunno…like you were…longing? It felt like how I feel for Yukito, and I felt those waves directed at me…when we hugged."

Tomoyo froze, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink.

"You said you loved me…I always thought you were just saying it as a friend, but…"

"I do love you as a friend, Sakura."

"Then…did I imagine that…what I just told you?"

There was a pause.

"No, you didn't imagine it," Tomoyo said calmly.

Sakura slammed her head against the table.

"Oh my GOD I AM SO STUPID," she wept.

"No! Nonononono," Tomoyo rushed to Sakura's side, "You are _not_ stupid."

"How long have you…liked me?"

"… …since third grade?"

Sakura let out a depressed groan.

"We were a lot younger! Of course, you wouldn't notice! It's okay!"

"But for THIS LONG?"

Tomoyo patted her back.

"I feel like an idiot."

"You're not an idiot, Sakura."

"Yes I am."

Tomoyo dragged Sakura's head away from the table so that they were now making eye contact.

"No…you're not."

Sakura pouted, looking away sadly.

"Well, think of it this way. At least you figured it out quicker than Kim Diehl," Tomoyo added, "She waited until she was an _adult_."

At this, Sakura giggled a little. Her friend made a valid point.

"Listen, we can talk more about it later. Right now, we gotta finish up breakfast and go see my mom and your dad!"

Sakura nodded as her friend sat down at her place at the table and started eating. However, there was awkwardness in the air. Sakura looked to see Tomoyo's soul, shivering anxiously. Their wavelengths weren't syncing like they used to. There was now a gap in their relationship they had to repair. What the repair would be, however, Sakura wasn't sure of.

Tomoyo was always her best friend. Seeing her as anything else seemed unlikely. Yet again, Sakura never considered the possibility of ever…liking a girl that way. Would she be able to return Tomoyo's feelings when she already liked Yukito? She still wasn't sure.

It only made Sakura's head hurt as she finished her breakfast.

* * *

It was insanity at the airport. Sakura and her brother, Touya, greeted their father with open arms, as did Tomoyo with her mother. However, as soon as Mrs. Daidouji saw Mr. Kinomoto, she went into absolute hysterics, yelling at the man how she'll never forgive the man for stealing her precious Nadeshiko.

As soon as Sakura heard the name, she knew whom Tomoyo's mother was talking about.

_Her_ mother.

"Your mother knows my mother, Tomoyo?"

"I had no idea," she whispered.

Sakura's father spoke.

"I know your cousin was very important to you…"

Sakura and Tomoyo froze.

_Did he just say cousin?_

Sakura and Tomoyo's mothers were cousins. That would mean…

"Are we…cousins?" Sakura asked.

Their parents looked at their kids in disbelief.

"Your friend is Nadeshiko's daughter, Tomoyo?" her mother asked.

"I…I guess so," Tomoyo looked dead to the world. She had fallen in love with her own cousin. She felt sick.

"Excuse me…"

Tomoyo ran off towards the women's restroom. Her mother ran after her. Sakura didn't know it, but Tomoyo was in tears.

"I brought subs from the Quizn…what's going on?"

Yukito came up behind Touya with a bagful of sandwiches. Some were for Sakura and company. Most of them were for him.

"Well…Tomoyo's had this big honkin' girl crush on Sakura for, like, ever. And, they just found out they're cousins," Touya abridged for his friend.

"YOU _KNEW?!_" Sakura cried.

"What…the cousins thing or…?"

"NO, YOU IDIOT! HER CRUSH ON ME!"

Her father stood there, incredibly lost.

"Well, I thought it was kinda obvious," Touya shrugged, "The cousin thing? I had no fuckin' clue about…"

"OH MY GOD."

Sakura collapsed her face in her hands.

"Are you two…um…a thing? Have you two, like, had…" Touya began to ask.

"Touya, I don't think they have, and I don't think that's your sister's main concern right now," Yukito interjected.

Sakura's father walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, she had tears in her eyes.

"Tomoyo was…she's in…she loves me, and I never knew…"

Her father embraced her tightly.

Then, there was a scream from the women's restroom. A pink, angel-like spirit, flew out of the restroom. Tomoyo and her mother ran towards the group.

"Her voice! That thing, it…"the mother stammered.

"Tomoyo, what happened?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Her voice is gone!" her mother cried.

* * *

It wasn't long before Sakura and Tomoyo were running after the small, pink spirit in haste. It took a lot of coaxing, but thanks to her brother, Sakura had permission to go from her father. Her mother already knew what Tomoyo had to do.

As Tomoyo turned into the sealing wand, Sakura grabbed her in haste.

And then, her hands started burning again.

Sakura let go of Tomoyo, dropping her to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Tomoyo cried.

"I'm fine. I just…"

"Your wavelengths aren't synced."

Syaoran and Meiling came out of the shadows.

"One or both of you have some emotional baggage that's keeping you from resonating," Syaoran said, "Meiling saw it with soul perception, since she's a meister and all."

As soon as he said this, Sakura knew immediately what was happening. Their relationship was now unclear. They couldn't be lovers. Their friendship was now a mess, and now their cousins, and neither of them knew how to deal with that. Sakura would've been happy about being related to her best friend in the world, but Tomoyo loved her, and she hated to see Tomoyo sad. In the end, neither of them knew _what _to feel. And it was messing up their connection, one that was fully based in their strong friendship.

"We'll take care of it," Meiling said.

"Wha? But…" Sakura started.

"Look, you guys can't resonate right now, right? So, we'll take care of it! Just sit tight, okay?"

Syaoran turned into his sword form, and Meiling grabbed him, running off like the wind. Sakura sat with Tomoyo, rubbing her back, as Tomoyo began to weep silently.

* * *

The had the little pink spirit cornered, but as soon as they did, the spirit let out a high-pitched wail, causing Meiling to cover her ears. The spirit sped away.

"DAMMIT! NOT AGAIN!" Meiling yelled, stomping her foot, and then it hit her.

"Hey, why don't we try that new card we caught?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Syaoran echoed through the reflection of the sword's blade.

They ran after the pink monstrosity again and cornered it once more. Before the little demon could let out another screech, Meiling pulled out a card.

"_SILENT!_"

A woman in black with a fan in front of her mouth and nose appeared from the card, motioning her finger to a pair of unseen lips.

"_SSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…_"

And the whole world went quiet. You couldn't even hear a pin drop. As the pink, angel spirit screeched, it noticed to it's dismay, that no sound came from it's lips. It bared it's fangs and flew towards the two cousin and lightening speed.

"_TIME!_"

The pink angel spirit stopped in thin air.

"This card has been, like, the best one," Meiling snickered.

"Let's just reap this thing so we can help Daidouji," Syaoran told her.

"Right."

And with one sweep of the sword, the pink angel was now a golden sphere.

* * *

Meiling and Syaoran ran up to Sakura now holding Tomoyo in her arms, who had her eyes shut.

"Has her voice come back?" Meiling asked.

"Sadly no," Sakura replied, "Did you catch it?"

"We don't have a card," Meiling shrugged, holding the golden bauble in front of her.

"We caught another spirit earlier with the blank card you gave us," Syaoran added.

Tomoyo opened her eyes and saw the Clow Soul in front of her. She noticed a glowing pink star in the center.

She heard her own voice in her head.

"_Eat me…_"

As Tomoyo reached for it, Sakura looked over at her.

"What's wrong?"

Neither she nor the other two in their company saw this pink star in the golden bauble Meiling was holding. Tomoyo grabbed it, holding it in front of her.

"_Eat me…I'll make you stronger…_"

"Tomoyo, what are you doing?!" Sakura exclaimed.

Tomoyo held the gelatin bauble to her lips.

"TOMOYO!"

"_Eat me…_"

And Tomoyo swallowed it before anyone could stop her.

After, what looked like, a moment of indigestion, Tomoyo finally spoke.

"**I'm fine.**"

What scared the other three, however, was that it sounded less like her voice and more of like her voice was echoing. It was as if she now had two voices speaking from her throat at the same time.

"You need to spit it out, Tomoyo," Syaoran advised.

"**Really, I'm fine. See?**"

Tomoyo stood up. She was acting as she usually did, but her eyes seemed dead, and her voice was still scary to listen to.

"I know what those things can do, Daidouji," Syaoran hissed, "Spit it out."

"**NO.**"

"Tomoyo, please…" Sakura pleaded, "You're scaring me…"

"**OH, I'M SORRY! WAS I NOT SCARING YOU ENOUGH? IS MY LOVE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU, SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH….**"

Tomoyo's eyes flooded with tears as words just flew from her mouth like vomit. This time, not in her own voice.

"**WHAT ELSE CAN I MAKE THIS WEAPON GIRL DO? CAN HER HEAD SPIN? OR WILL THAT JUST BREAK HER NECK?**"

Sakura began to cry.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"**OH, I'M SORRY. SHE DOESN'T WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU RIGHT NOW. WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEAVE A MESSAGE?**"

Sakura sobbed even more.

"**QUITE THE WEAPON SHE IS. CLOW DID A BANG UP JOB ON HER.**"

The looked up in shock.

"What did you just say?" Syaoran said.

"**OH, YOU DIDN'T KNOW? I'M SORRY! DIDN'T KNOW CLOW'S APPRENTICE HERE WAS SO DENSE! DID YOU THINK THE MIGHTY CLOW REED WOULD LEAVE A DUELER WITHOUT A SWORD? A COWBOY WITHOUT A GUN? A WITCH WITHOUT A WAND?**"

It all hit them at once. The reason Clow Reed's magic circle appeared under Tomoyo when she transformed. It made sense. Clow Reed created her.

"Then…what about Tomoyo's mother?" Meiling pondered.

"**IMMACULTE CONCEPTION SURE IS AMAZING, ISN'T IT? NOPE! JUST A BABY ON A DOORSTEP. THE HAIR OF SONOMI DAIDOUJI AND THE BLOOD OF CLOW REED. BIG CEREMONY! SAME TIME I WAS MADE! IT WAS SONG'S IDEA TO GIVE HER A BEAUTIFUL VOICE. I DUNNO WHAT SHE WAS DRINKING. YET AGAIN WE CAN'T DRINK. WE'RE DEAD AND ALL. THE DEAD CAN'T EAT. CAN'T STAND ON OUR HEADS NEITHER.**"

At this point the voice started spitting out nonsense to the point of pissing off Syaoran.

"SHUT UP and GIVE US BACK TOMOYO!"

"**OH WELL, OKAY, SINCE YOU WERE SO NICE. I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU THE MESSAGE. TOMOYO'S ONE OF US, YOU SEE? AND NOW, HER MASTER…MEISTER…WHATEVER'S GOTTA DECIDE. WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO? THOSE DWMA WILL LOCK HER POOR LITTLE COUSIN AWAY! WHAT TO DO?**"

"What are you saying?" Sakura asked, choking through her tears.

"**JOIN US, SAKURA. BECOME ONE OF US. WE WON'T LET THAT MEANIE DEATH KEEP YOU FROM YOUR FRIEND. YOU NEED TO CATCH ALL OF US, RIGHT? YOU CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT HER. YOU'RE NOTHING WITHOUT YOUR WEAPON.**"

The spirit of Clow somehow managed to reform itself into it's original shape, as the little pink angel crawled out of Tomoyo's throat, staying there and float in the air. Tomoyo looked like she was choking.

"**IT'S AMAZING WHAT A VOICE CAN DO FOR LITTLE OL' ME!**"

Tomoyo gagged and sobbed.

"Stop it…" Sakura sobbed. Syaoran transformed, and Meiling got in a battle stance, ready to reap the soul once again.

"**CLOW REED WILL REIGN. HE IS ALREADY A GOD AMONG MEN. YOU WILL ALL DIE AND BECOME ONE OF US! AND LITTLE SAKURA! YOU WILL BE THE MOST POWERFUL WITCH THE WORLD'S EVER SEEN!**"

Tomoyo made a red blade come out of her forearm, eyes lit with anger and still gagging on the pink angel spirit of Clow.

"**WE WERE ALL BORN TO DIE! SO BREATHES CLOW RE—**"

Before the little pink angel, more demonic than angelic, could finish, Tomoyo slashed through the spirit, turning into a golden bauble once more. Tomoyo collapsed to the ground and coughed, showing her voice had come back. Sakura ran to her side, embracing her tightly.

"Tomoyooooo…" she sobbed, and Tomoyo hugged her back, almost as tightly.

Syaoran and Meiling held the Clow Soul, as the two girls got up, and they wiped the tears from their eyes. Sakura dug a blank card from the pouch and handed it to them.

As soon as they cast the spell, an image of a young girl with wings for arms and ears appeared, her mouth open as if she were singing. It read The VOICE.

Syaoran grabbed a case they were keeping their cards in and stowed it away, grabbing another card in the process. It was The SILENT.

He handed it to Sakura.

"Wha…but…it's yours."

"It's okay. You probably don't want that demonic card anyways after what just happened, right?"

Sakura nodded shyly and took it. She seemed sad, and Syaoran almost felt the same. He tapped her on the shoulder, and she looked up.

"We're even," he said, giving a small and gentle smile and holding up the cards he had. Sakura had never seen him smile before and took it with comfort, smiling back at him and giving a cathartic laugh.

The parents and young adults ran up to the group, asking if Sakura and Tomoyo were okay. When their attention turned to the Li cousins, Touya gave Syaoran an annoyed glare, which Syaoran returned with equal measure. Yukito smiled and waved, and Syaoran's face went red.

Sakura's father merely stared in confusion, having no clue _what_ was going on.

"What just happened? Why was Tomoyo's voice gone? What is…Sakura, what is going on right now?"

Touya stayed silent, as did the others. Sakura put The SILENT card away in her pouch and walked up to her dad.

"That's…kinda what I wanted to talk to you about…"


	12. Chapter 11: Mother

AN: So…in case any of you missed that…Tomoyo's…a weapon created by Clow Reed. Why'd he make her? Let's find out.

* * *

High heels clacked against the large stone walkway just outside of Death City. The clacking stopped at a bus stop, and the woman wearing the heels collapsed onto the bench in the shaded area.

"Ugh…FINALLY. My feet are killing me!" she cried, removing the horrendously painful shoes.

"Of all the places to land, it HAD to be the desert. Well…at least I got here before the wind storm started."

Winds blew sand across the stone walkway, as the woman took her straight, jet-black hair down from her high bun. Her dress was long and flowing, showing a generous amount of her large breasts and pale skin. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, revealing her burgundy eyes.

"Hopefully the bus will be here soon. Still…I can be patient. When the time is right, it'll come."

Her long hair began blowing around in the small breeze that made it's way within the bus stop area. Thankfully, very little sand made it's way in. The tall, beautiful woman gazed up thoughtfully.

"Soon, dear child…your wish…will be granted."

* * *

It took a while for Sakura's father to digest the information. It also took a while longer for most of the teachers involved with the capture of Clow Reed to meet with Lord Death. Yukito had to report the incident at the airport, whether anyone wanted to or not, and as a result, there was another meeting with Lord Death.

Tomoyo and her mother stood before him, seemingly troubled. Sakura stood behind with her family and Yukito. Syaoran and Meiling stood father back, under the close eye of Black«Star and Tsubaki. Maka, Soul, Liz, and Patti were in the room as well. Death the Kid, now Lord Death, stood before them all, ready to speak.

"You are a creation of Clow Reed's?" he asked the young girl with the thick, dark hair. Her blue eyes filled with anguish too immense to comprehend.

"It would seems so, Sir," Tomoyo answered wearily.

"Please, Mr…um…Death, I don't know anything about this Clow Reed," her mother pleaded. He held his hand up to silence her.

"I understand. However, your daughter is still in hot water at the moment."

"You're not going to…" the worried mother started.

"No, we are not going to hurt her or kill her. It's been made clear that this girl has had no knowledge of this information up to the point. However, now that she has such information and powers, we need to keep her under close watch."

Lord Death then turned his attention back to Tomoyo.

"Do you know now what you were created for?" he asked.

She nodded.

"And what might that be?"

"VOICE said that…it was to lead Sakura in the 'better' direction…" she answered bitterly.

"What do you mean, Tomoyo?" Maka asked.

"I was…I was supposed to lead her down the same path as Clow Reed…I would…I would consume the souls of all of Clow's followers and become a powerful…weapon. And Sakura would…she would become…the most powerful magician in the world. More powerful than him."

Everyone silently took it all in. Tomoyo seemed to be trying not to cry. Sakura reached out and touched her shoulder.

"It…It's okay, Tomoyo. You don't…have to do that. Your intentions are with catching the cards, right? And then, it'll all be over, and we can keep be friends again!"

She knew her friend was trying to be optimistic, but Tomoyo just couldn't see it going that way. She shook her head.

"My intentions were with being with you. I just…wanted to be by your side. I didn't care what you did. As long as you…as you were…happy. That's all I wanted. And now…"

"We can still do this, Tomoyo!"

"I know we can! We can still be friends. If I can be your friend, that's more than enough. But Sakura…we…we can't be partners anymore."

"But…but why?"

"Clow Reed might control her at this point, and the risk that has on you is too great to take," Lord Death answered, "We need to keep watch on her. Make sure she's safe."

"But Tomoyo has a will of her own!" Sakura cried, "If Clow Reed wanted to control her so that he could control me, he would've done it by now!"

"That may be true, but she's aware of his plans for her," he answered more urgently, "He may be able to get to her more easily now that she's swallowed one of his followers. You captured this follower, right?"

Syaoran came up and showed him the card.

"Very good," he nodded, "Even so, he may still…"

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Sakura cried more earnestly.

"Listen!" the God of Death pleaded, "Your friend here has already begun to feel the weight of power he has over her. She told me she needed to do this."

Everyone froze.

"What?" Sakura turned to her friend.

"I can hear him," she sobbed, "And the spirit I swallowed. Even though she's captured, she's still…she did something to me! I always feel like my throat's on fire. They tell me to do things…really terrible things. I can't stop it. I can't function like this, and I don't want you suffering what I'm going through right now! He says…he says we can both feel it if we…if we resonate…I don't…"

Sakura stood there, speechless. In all her years of being with Tomoyo, she never saw her cry like this. She was suffering so much, and there was nothing she could do.

"Kid…" Maka spoke up.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Sakura may not have to worry about feeling the effect of the madness. She has an anti-demon wavelength."

"I noticed."

Sakura looked at the two of them, thoroughly confused.

"Still," Kid continued, "She has no control over it, and she needs to be trained. It's still winter break, so it will have to wait until classes start again. In the meantime, Tomoyo needs to be kept under watch. She will be in Maka and Soul's care, seeing as Maka's anti-demon wavelength would provide some stability for her."

Maka and Soul nodded.

"Sakura, in the meantime, will have to cease capturing these spirits."

"HOLD UP!"

A tiny voice came from behind. It was Kero. He flew up to the God of Death, very agitated.

"With all due respect, Sir, spirits have been coming at full force her in Death City! We can't afford to waste any days before Sakura can go back to school."

"Well, from what I hear, another weapon and meister pair has been able to catch these cards as well?" enquired Kid.

Syaoran and Meiling meekly nodded their heads.

"Well, then, they will have the duty until Sakura can battle again! Simple."

"THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!"

Sakura wearily walked over to Meiling and Syaoran. She handed them some blank cards.

"These are all of the blanks I have…" she murmured, "You can…you can give back whatever blanks are left when school starts…"

"SAKURA!" Kero whined.

"It's okay, Kero-chan. Really," Sakura said sadly, "They can do it. It's…it's fine. They…they have a mission, anyways."

"I…" Syaoran began, but Meiling grabbed the cards without a second thought.

"Then, it's settled," Lord Death concluded, "You all can go. Maka? Soul? Take Tomoyo and her mother to where they need to go."

Everyone began leaving the room. Touya, Yukito, and Sakura's father came up to Sakura, whose head was hanging low.

"Sakura…"her father began.

"I'm sorry I lied to you…" she interrupted.

"Well, technically, you and your brother lied."

Sakura grimaced.

"Honey, you could've told me. I would've been okay. You don't need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders like this."

"That's not…" and Sakura stopped herself. She didn't know how to explain it.

"Nevermind," she told him, "I need to…I need to go think."

She left the room quickly before her father and the others could catch her.

* * *

She came across a bridge over a small pond in one of the greener parts of the city. It was a park built by the city to add some color to the desert-like streets. The bridge, while it arced over more, reminded her of Penguin King Park back at home, and the giant penguin slide that sat in the center.

The pond was nice and quiet. Sakura would come with Tomoyo here to feed some of the ducks and turtles that came by through the water. Strangely, there was nothing here. Only the dark abyss of the water.

Sakura stood there, finally away from everyone else. She wanted to be alone, which was a rare thing for her. She loved company, and being by herself made her think she was going to see a ghost.

She stared at the water, looking at her reflection. There was a band-aid on her face from one particular fight she couldn't remember. She grazed the bandage with her fingers, still looking into her reflection.

She hated herself. Clow was after her. Why did Tomoyo have to be involved in this? She hated to see her friend so sad. There was nothing she could do. Even if she had this anti-demon whatever-it-was, she didn't know how to use it. And how would it really help Tomoyo? Or anybody? She wanted results now. Not after winter break. She wanted her brother. Her father.

But mostly, she wanted her mother.

She died when Sakura was three. All she had were pictures of her. She wished that she could talk to her somehow. Maybe she would have answers. If her mother was where Touya said she was, she probably saw a lot of things. Maybe she would know what to do.

And then, a light shone in the water. A shape came rising to the surface. It was a woman. Young and fair. Her long, curly hair was a light ashy color, and her eyes were green as Sakura's. She smiled at her gently. Her eyes were warm and welcoming.

"M…Mom?"

* * *

Syaoran felt something twist in his stomach. Something bad was happening. Somehow, he had an idea of where to go, but he didn't know why. He felt his eye twitch.

"Syaoran, what's the matter?" Meiling asked as they walked out of the school building, dusk settling in behind them.

"I don't know," he muttered. Something bad was happening to someone.

Someone important to him.

"I'll meet you back at the apartment!" he told her, "I need to go take care of something."

He sprinted down the direction he needed to go.

"Wait, Syaoran!" Meiling huffed. She wanted to follow, but to her own judgment, she decided to follow what he said.

* * *

She felt her arms wrap around her. It felt so warm and safe. Sakura could cry.

"Mommy!" she wept, as she embraced her mother tightly. It felt so real. She thought ghosts couldn't touch the living.

And then, they plunged into the water. Her mother was holding her very tightly now. Sakura tried to release herself, but she couldn't

"_Mom…I can't breathe, Mommy_."

Sakura tried holding her breath. But, all she ended up doing was turning her face blue. She ended up swallowing in water. Her vision became hazy.

"_Are you lonely, Mom? Is that why you're here? Do you want me to be here with you?_"

She couldn't see who it was, but someone jumped into the water. They were swimming towards her. And then, all she could see and feel was darkness.

* * *

With one more push against her chest, Syaoran finally got Sakura to breath. She coughed and choked up some water as her lungs filled with the sweet dry air of the city. They were on the bridge.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"...I'm fine…" she choked out in between coughs. He patted her back, as she coughed up more water. When her coughing stopped, she took in a few breaths to steady herself.

"What happened?" Syaoran finally asked.

"It was…it was my mom…she…she's in the lake," she stammered.

"Your mom?"

"Yeah…it's…it's hard to explain."

"That doesn't seem possible. Where is she usually? Did she come to see you here in Death City with your dad somehow?"

There was a pause.

"She's…she's dead."

Shock and then guilt spread across Syaoran's face.

"Oh…I'm…I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay. You didn't know. She died when I was three…I've known her through pictures. I think I saw her ghost somehow."

He frowned. That didn't make sense. When he came to the bridge, where his gut was telling him to go, he could feel the presence of a spirit of Clow. Then, he had seen Sakura's body in the darkness of the water. He shivered a little.

"I don't know why she drug me down in the water though…" Sakura said to herself.

Syaoran looked at her, concerned.

"If it _was_ your mother, would she really do something like that?"

After a thought, Sakura realized it. No, her mother would never try to hurt her…or so she thought…

"Then…"

"It's a spirit of Clow," he told her.

Shocked, Sakura tried to look around for it. Syaoran grabbed her shoulders.

"Calm down. Clear your head. If you do, you'll probably feel it too."

She took a deep breath and did as he told her. She had done this before with a few other spirits. She felt, what typically felt like, a soul wavelength. It felt angry and malevolent. It was coming from the water.

"I feel it too."

"Yeah…"

"But…where's Meiling?"

"She went home. I didn't think there'd actually be a spirit here."

"Then why did you come here?"

"It was…a feeling…somehow."

Sakura didn't know how to respond to this, but she somehow understood what he meant.

"So…what do we do?" Sakura asked. Syaoran pondered for a second. After a small realization, he reached out his hand to her.

"Resonate with me."

Sakura frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she busted out.

"You're a witch, right? And people have said you have great potential to be very powerful. Maybe can resonate with another weapon. There are meisters that can do that."

"Where did you hear that?"

"I didn't hear it. I read it."

"I dunno…"

"I know it's weird, but…I promise. I won't let anything happen to you."

He seemed strangely determined, as Sakura noticed. She didn't know why, but she felt assured that he _would_ protect her and help her. Reasoning be damned, Sakura slowly reached out and grabbed his offered hand.

Releasing their soul wavelengths, they began resonating. She didn't know if it was practice with their partners or not, but they seemed to click very easily. His wavelength felt familiar. Warm. It wasn't like Tomoyo's warmth though. It was a warmth that was uniquely his. Maybe it was because they had a common goal. To capture these spirits. To defeat Clow Reed.

Syaoran transformed into his sword form, and Sakura grabbed him firmly. Her hands weren't burning. They were resonating perfecting.

"We…we're doing it!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah…" his voice echoed, "I'm…kinda relieved."

A shape rose from the water again. It was the shape of Sakura's mother once again.

"What…what is that?" Syaoran asked.

"That's…that's my mom! What do you mean 'what is that'?"

"It…it looks like some genderless figure to me…I can't tell…"

The shape of Sakura's mother reached out to her.

"You want me to go down with you, don't you?"

The shape of Sakura's mother nodded.

"No…my mom wouldn't want that. She wouldn't…want me to die. Not while I'm still young. You can't be her. You. Aren't. My MOTHER."

With that, the image of Sakura's mother disappeared, and a kaleidoscope pattern took its place.

"You did it! Quick, get it!" Syaoran shouted.

"I know! I know! Sheesh." Sakura muttered with a smirk, as she ran towards the pond. She pulled out a card.

"_WATERY!_"

The water rose out of the pond, leaving the kaleidoscope spirit nowhere to hide. With this, she slashed through the patterned spirit with the sword, and the water fell back into the pond, as a golden Clow Soul floated gently on the surface.

Sakura fell into the water. She swam to the surface, the pond unsurprisingly shallow, along with a now human Syaoran, and they grabbed the golden bauble.

They grabbed a blank card, holding it together and chanting the spell, as the spirit was sealed away. A kaleidoscope pattern showed itself in the picture. It read The ILLUSION.

"I guess it shows us what we want to see the most…" Syaoran said, handing the card to Sakura, who placed it in her pouch.

"And… I wanted to see my mom…" Sakura said, "I guess…I'm just glad she wasn't really down there and that's up in a place above the sky."

She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and then she just let them run down her face, sobbing. Syaoran looked at her, feeling sorry for her. While he never really understood his mother a portion of the time, he couldn't imagine not having her in his life in whatever way. He hastily fished through his pockets and dug out a…now very wet hankerchief.

Sakura looked up to see it and started to giggle. She grabbed it and dabbed her face with it. It felt cool on her now red eyes, stinging from either the tears or the fall into the pond water.

"Thank you."

Syaoran nodded.

"What was it that you wanted to see the most though, Li?" she asked.

There was a pause.

"It's embarrassing…"

"Oh come on, I'm sure it's not that bad."

"It was…um…I wanted to see my…um…most precious person…"

Sakura looked confused.

"You ever hear about a special person meant just for you?"

"Oh…Oh! Like…a soulmate!"

His cheeks went red.

"Aaww! No, that's cute!"

"It's…not supposed to be cute…it's just…it is what it is…"

"So, when you said it was some genderless figure you saw…"

Syaoran nodded.

"Soooo…it can be a boy _or_ a girl for you?"

"I don't know…"

"Is there anyone you have in mind?"

His whole face went red.

"I won't tell!" Sakura assured happily, and Syaoran cleared his throat.

"Well…there's this guy…with silver hair…"

"Wait…silver hair? Does he have brownish eyes?"

"Yes…?"

"That's Yukito Tsukishiro! My brother's friend!" Sakura exclaimed, her face going red as well.

"You know him?"

"I've…well, he _is_ my brother's friend, and well…I _have_ had a crush on him…"

They were both blushing and twiddling their thumbs. They sat down in the grass.

"So…you like him too…" Syaoran muttered.

"Since I was in third grade…he…came over to my brother's house to study, and…it was love at first sight. … What about you, Li?"

"It was…I passed by the front desk the first day of classes. He smiled at me, and I…I guess it was love at first sight too."

They sat in awkward silence for a while until Sakura finally spoke again.

"Both you and I are so much younger than him, but…I guess we can't help liking him, can we?" she giggled.

Syaoran was surprised to see her smiling so gently. Shouldn't she be jealous or angry? Did she not see him as competition for this guy's affections? No, she just shrugged it off and accepted it for what it was.

"You're not mad?" he asked.

"No, of course not," she replied, "I don't usually get mad at stuff. It's not worth fighting so much over, right?"

She got up.

"Well…may the best man or woman win!" she shouted triumphantly, and Syaoran couldn't help but laugh.

"What?"

"You're just really something, you know that?" Syaoran told her.

"Is that…bad or…good?"

"It's…I guess… it's a pretty good thing."

They smiled for a small moment before Sakura's family as well as Yukito ran through the park, catching up. With some small vague explanations, Sakura went back to her brother's apartment with the rest of her family. She waved back at Syaoran, who smiled softly and waved back.

He looked at her and Yukito as they left, still thinking about what he saw at the pond. ILLUSION had shown him an image of Yukito. However, it changed suddenly to someone else. An image of Sakura.

He would never her tell this. Not soon, anyways.


	13. Chapter 12: Alone

AN: Let's see if we can get some more Syaoran/Sakura moments. The role of Rika will be replaced with Yukito for this chapter. The role of Kaho Mizuki shall be replaced with…a different character. * winks *

* * *

It wasn't until Meiling and Syaoran caught three more cards that Syaoran decided to tell Meiling what happened with Sakura. They stood to the side of the street, The SNOW, FLOAT, and RETURN in Meiling's hands. He told her what happened the other night with The ILLUSION.

"You two…RESONATED?"

"Yeah…it's weird, but I'm not all that surprised," Syaoran said.

"I mean she's powerful or whatever, but seriously! Why did you do that?"

"She…she has no weapon partner, Meiling!"

"Well, if you become _her_ partner, I won't either!"

There was a pause.

"She told us to catch them, so _we'll_ catch them," Meiling told him, "Don't worry about her not having a partner! She'll get some when Tomoyo's better."

"When will that be exactly?" Syaoran snapped, "And it's not about collecting them."

"Then, what _is_ it about?"

"I think…these things are after her…"

"Oh please…"

"No! Think about it! That VOICE spirit attacked Tomoyo. And now that she doesn't have a weapon partner, this ILLUSION spirit attacks her."

"Oh come on, that's just a coincidence, Syaoran."

"There are no coincidences in this world," a voice echoes from behind them. A woman came out of the shadows, her straight, jet-black hair blowing in the wind and her wine red eyes glow in the lamplight. She wore, this time, flat sandals that strapped around her feet and ankles and a long black dress decorated in Oriental patterns. The two cousins stared at the beautiful woman in awe.

"There is only the inevitable," she finished. Syaoran felt like he should recognize her, and Meiling stood there, confused.

"Who are you?" Meiling asked irritably, "And what do you want?"

"I am a new teacher at your school," the woman answered, her voice smooth as silk, "I'm looking for someone, and I was just passing through."

Meiling squinted, as if concentrating hard on the woman in front of her.

"You're a witch…aren't you?"

"To some extent. Yes. I've been sent here to teach a particular student."

Syaoran eyed her suspiciously.

"It's Kinomoto, isn't it?"

"Very good, young man!"

She walked slowly up to him, lifting his chin up to meet her gaze.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Syaoran Li."

She smiled sadly.

"You don't know where she is, do you?"

"Um…no, ma'am."

"That's alright…. Although, you both might want to find her. She is being attacked, as you predicted, Syaoran Li."

The two cousins looked up in shock. She turned around, walking back into the darkness.

"Follow me," she beckoned, "I know the way."

Syaoran and Meiling looked at each other and then started following her into the shadows.

"You never told us your name," Meiling muttered.

"Ichihara," the woman answered over her shoulder, "Yuuko Ichihara."

* * *

Sakura was running down the street away from her attacker. It was Yukito. A sword brooch was pinned to his chest and had now materialized into an actual sword. He seemed to be brainwashed, as he began chasing Sakura, trying to attack her with the sword.

Much to her dismay, Sakura couldn't use any of the cards she had with her. Not that she really attempted to, but she knew she couldn't use the cards without a weapon, so there was no point.

She tripped on the ground, Yukito now hovering above her. As he struck down the sword towards her, she closed her eyes.

And then there was a loud clang of metal. She opened her eyes to see Meiling, Syaoran's sword form in hand, protecting her from Yukito's attack. He jumped back, ready to fight. Meiling prepared herself as well.

"You okay, Kinomoto?" Meiling asked.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay," she stammered. There was a small tap on her shoulder, and Sakura turned around. It was the mysterious woman in black, Yuuko Ichihara.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Ms. Sakura Kinomoto," she smiled gently. Sakura jumped, deciding to stand up.

"How did you know my name?"

"Just a feeling, I suppose."

She looked up sternly, as the sword fight taking place.

"You have quite the catch," Yuuko smirked, "The boy with the silver hair _is_ quite handsome."

Sakura blushed, trying to find something to say.

"You must get him to release the sword," Yuuko instructed, "That's the trick to defeating this spirit possessing your silver-haired friend."

"But…I can't hurt him!" Sakura begged.

"You won't have to. Distract him with an image of some sort. You have the Clow Cards with you."

Sakura nodded hesitantly. She pulled out her pouch. Fishing through it, she found the card she caught with Syaoran: The ILLUSION.

"Very good," Yuuko encouraged, "Now, cast a spell with it."

"But…I need a weapon!" Sakura replied anxiously.

"What makes you say that?"

Sakura paused.

"Well…when Meiling tried…it…"

"You base the assumption that you can't use the cards on your own because _she_ can't?"

"We're both meisters!"

"But one of you is a witch. A very powerful one at that."

Sakura looked down at the card.

"How will you ever know, young Sakura, if you never try?" Yuuko asked sincerely. Sakura nodded softly. Yuuko was right. She stood up and walked towards the fight. Meiling was down, and Yukito was about to strike. However, as soon as Sakura got close, Yukito turned his attention to her. Sakura held the card in her hand.

"_Project an image of someone he admires and loves! ILLUSION!_"

The card glowed and the kaleidoscope imagery formed into the form of a person. It wasn't clear, but the person was very tall.

While Yukito stared at the figure starry-eyed and muttering something Sakura couldn't make out, she snatched the sword out of his hand, tossing it to the side. Yukito fainted and ILLUSION's form vanished back into the card. While Meiling had the chance, she sliced at the sword that was now hovering into the air. It split in half, as it morphed into a golden soul.

"Very good, Sakura!" Yuuko clapped, "Now, grab a blank card."

"I don't…" Sakura began, but Meiling held out one.

"Thank you, Ms. Meiling Li," Yuuko smiled, as she handed the card to Sakura.

"How did you do that?" Meiling asked.

"I don't know," Sakura muttered, "I just kinda…winged it?"

"You tapped into part of your power," Yuuko explained, "Now, you can seal the soul away."

"BUT WE REAPED IT!" Meiling cried.

"Do you honestly have a use for a sword-like spirit at this point?" Yuuko retorted.

Meiling gazed at Syaoran, still in his sword form.

"I didn't think so," Yuuko continued. Sakura grabbed the Clow Soul and placed the card on it.

"_Return to the form you were meant to be! CLOW CARD!_"

The soul sealed itself into the cardboard and plastic as a picture of a sword in chains started to appear. It read, of course, The SWORD.

"I can…catch these…without a weapon," Sakura affirmed to herself.

"Not completely," Yuuko corrected, "You can't yet reap the souls not fight them without a weapon, but you _can_ catch them and use their powers."

"_Yet?_" Meiling hissed, wanting to scream, "She can't reap them _YET?_"

"She cannot continue on this path safely," Yuuko continued, "Using them with a weapon _is_ the safest way."

"Clow Reed wants me to become the most powerful magician in the world," Sakura muttered.

"Correct," Yuuko added, "And the quickest way in doing that is getting you by yourself. Putting you in a world where you are completely alone. You would have to use nothing but your own powers to achieve your desires by then. And the need for more power will drive you to madness."

After this cryptic message, Yukito began gaining consciousness, as Sakura and the others turned their attentions to him. Yuuko smiled and nodded, as she turned around and left.

"Until next time, Sakura."

Sakura was about to thank her, but before she could, Yuuko vanished.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve. All was going well. Tomoyo, sadly, didn't come. However, it was just a festive evening for Sakura with Yukito, Touya, and her father. Kero flew down to join the crowd, eating most of the food in front of him.

"My, this creature sure loves to eat," Sakura's father pointed out.

"Well, technically, I don't _need _to eat," Kero replied, "I just enjoy do it! And I don't get fat, so there's _nooooo_ consequences."

Sakura glared at him, irritated.

"So…this entire time I was sneaking you food, it was _just_ for your amusement?" she gritted.

"_You_ were the one sneaking all of that food?!" Touya yelled. At this point, the two began their sibling quarrels, as Yukito and Sakura's father laughed in amusement. Kero continued stuffing his face.

"You're just as bad as me!" Yukito chuckled.

"I think he's worse than you," Touya muttered.

"I still can't believe what happened yesterday," Sakura father pondered, "Are you alright now, Yukito?"

"I barely remember a thing," he smiled, and everyone merely sighed.

"You're the one that saved him, Sakura?" her father asked.

"Umm…well…I had some help, of course, but…yeah!"

"I'm amazed," he ruffled her hair, "I'm very proud of you, sweetheart."

Sakura sat their, content. She was with her family. Everything was perfect. And yet, she still wished Tomoyo could be here. Even Meiling and Syaoran, since they'd become such good allies to her.

Suddenly, the presents under the tree vanished.

"Huh?" Sakura father muttered, "Where did the presents go?"

The lights flickered. The food vanished.

"HEY!" Kero protested. The lights flickered again.

Kero vanished.

"Oh my God!" Sakura covered her mouth. Her father grabbed her and held her close. Touya put a protective arm around Yukito. Everyone was looking around for some sort of sign of what was happening. The lights went out for a moment before coming back on again.

Yukito had vanished.

Sakura screamed.

"Touya! Get beside me!" his father beckoned anxiously. But the lights went out again. Their father was gone when the lights came back on. Sakura ran to her brother.

"We need to get out of here, kiddo!" Touya yelled, and they ran down the hall to the front door. Sakura fumbled with the keys. The lights went out again as Sakura got the door open.

"I got it, big bro! I…"

He was gone. A smiling jester's face floated in front of her. It was like a mask, with squinted eyes, brows furrowed, as if it were angry, but the mouth was in an open-mouthed smile, only blackness filling where the tongue and teen should be.

It greeted her with an unsettling laugh, forcing Sakura to scream as she slammed the door, locked it, and ran out of the apartment building. She was alone.

* * *

This didn't stop the jester spirit, however. The entire apartment complex became terrorized as people and things started vanishing into thin air. Sakura knocked on a few doors she knew, only to be greeted by the haunting face she met before. The lights flickered as she escaped down the emergency stairwell, giving up any attempts of help within the building.

Meanwhile, Meiling and Syaoran were outside. They sensed a spirit of Clow, and they weren't passing this opportunity up. They hid outside, where a window lay just above where Meiling was crouching. Inside the blackness of the window, the jester's face appeared, unnoticed by the two cousins waiting for the moment to strike. An invisible hand seemed to reach through the window, like a portal.

With one quick swoop, the spirit grabbed Meiling, who screamed and flailed, as she was drug through the window. Syaoran tried to stop them, but it was too late. Meiling disappeared into the darkness.

Syaoran stood there, panicking. He failed to protect his partner. His cousin was gone. He was now without a meister. He was alone.

* * *

Sakura came rushing out of the apartment building, slamming the emergency exit door before her. Still heaving in air, she sprinted towards the front of the building, itching redness now under her eyes and cheeks stained with tears. She couldn't see. She didn't care. She needed to find a safe place. She didn't want to be alone.

She felt her body slam into someone, and she fell into them. They were about as tall as she was. Maybe taller. A boy.

Syaoran was surprised to see a very upset Sakura. As soon as she saw who it was, she crashed her forehead into his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Yukito…ma…my dad…everyone!" she cried.

"They disappeared?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes…" she choked.

"Meiling just disappeared too…. I couldn't stop whatever this spirit is…"

"It was…some sort of clown…a mask…"

"You saw it?"

Sakura sobbed harder.

"Look…Sa…Kinomoto…you need to get a hold of yourself."

"But my family!"

"I know, I know. But if we don't do something, we aren't going to get them back."

"B-but…but…"

Syaoran grabbed her shoulders and looked Sakura straight in the eye.

"Look, I know it was probably scary, but…you've gotta calm down. You're scared. I get it, but you're not alone. If you calm down, you'll be able to focus!"

Sakura tried to stop crying, taking a few deep breathes. She shut her eyes, feeling a familiar soul wavelength: a spirit of Clow, no different from all the others. She remembered what Yuuko Ichihara had said the night before. These spirits and Clow Reed would try to isolate her to drive her mad. She couldn't let that happen.

She tried wiping her eyes with her sleeve, but Syaoran handed her a dry handkerchief for her to use instead. She accepted it and wiped her drying tears away.

"Thank you," Sakura sniffed.

"Are you done crying now?" Syaoran asked, somewhat concerned.

"Yes, sorry about that."

"It's fine…" he blushed a little and looked away.

She handed it back when she was done, but he motioned her to go ahead and keep it for now. Sakura looked at the front door of the apartment building. With a newfound determination, she reached for the door handle.

"Wait," Syaoran interrupted.

"What is it?" replied Sakura with concern.

"We need to make sure that we go in undetected. We don't know if this spirit will take one of us next."

"That's true…AH!"

With a newfound realization, Sakura reached for her pouch of cards. To her dismay, she didn't have them with her.

"You don't have your Clow Cards with you…do you?"

"I must've left them in the apartment…" Sakura groaned.

Syaoran grabbed his stash in his back pocket and handed them to her.

"Why are you…"

"If I get attacked first, you'll at least have something to use," Syaoran told her. At this, Sakura grabbed his shirt sleeve, an anxious look on her face.

"We'll be fine," he assured, "We just have to be quiet for now. Let's get to your apartment first and then find the spirit from there."

Sakura nodded. She pulled at the front door, but it was locked. A person needed a scan card to get in the front, and Touya had the card. Sakura sighed and flipped through Syaoran's stash of Clow Cards. She immediately found the perfect one to use.

"_THROUGH,_" she whispered, and she became transparent. She grabbed Syaoran's hand, and they phased through the door. The lights no longer flickered and had gone out completely, leaving no way for them to see. Since neither of them had cards relating to light or fire, Syaoran grabbed a piece of paper with a spell written on it. He whispered an incantation Sakura couldn't quite hear, and the paper was ablaze, a flame that Syaoran now held in his hand.

"Which way?" he asked in a low voice, and Sakura pointed. They headed to the emergency stairwell, hoping the spirit wouldn't hear their footsteps.


	14. Chapter 13: Together

AN: This part was split into two chapters. Because, hey, why have one big update when you can have two smaller updates at once! Sexual content based on a story I _actually_ overheard once from a girl I sat next to in school. Hope you get as amused and grossed out as I did.

* * *

The emergency lights still worked as they climbed the emergency staircase. Their footsteps echoed, but nothing bad seemed to happen when they made noise, so they talked. They walked steadily, seeing as there were a lot of stairs to climb, and running would wear them out.

"That fire spell was amazing, Li!" Sakura exclaimed, climbing ahead of her male acquaintance.

"It's pretty basic," he shrugged, "With more training, even _you_ would probably be able to do it."

"Yeah," she mumbled, scratching her head, "I haven't gotten training on much magic since I came here…"

"Cerberus hasn't trained you?"

"Well, the only things he knows are in the Book of Clow, and most of the spell in there are, like, explanations of each card, how to use a scepter wand, and some other stuff I can't do yet…and there are a lot of _blank_ pages too. It's weird."

"Really? Blank pages?"

"Yeah…the handwriting in the book kinda stops halfway through the book."

"Strange."

"I know!"

"So…is this _your_ apartment building?"

"Um…no I live in the one on campus. This is my brother's place. What about you?"

"Me? Meiling and I live off campus."

"Off-campus? Can you even afford that?"

"Well…my mother sends us the money we need."

"Oh wow, that's nice! Stove and everything?"

"Two bedroom. Two bathroom."

"That _is_ nice. Tomoyo and I have to…well…had to share the bathroom."

"That must've been strange."

"Not really. Even if Tomoyo liked me…you know…like _that_, she respected my space. It was pretty easy sharing the bathroom. And I got the duty of cleaning it. That and doing dinner."

Syaoran was silent, so Sakura turned around for a moment. He had an eyebrow raised, as if confused.

"Who does dinner in your apartment?"

"Well…I kinda do the cooking."

"All of it?"

"Yeah. Cleaning too. Except laundry. Meiling won't let me touch her laundry. Not that I want to, but you know…"

"You do _all_ of the cooking and cleaning?!" she exclaimed.

"Huh? Well…yeah…"

"That's so strange! We split the duties and traded off every now and then. Why do you do all of it?"

"Meiling…well…her cooking's…kinda…"

"Oh…that bad?"

"Yeah."

"What about cleaning?"

"She never really did it, and I didn't want to fight her on it, so I just kind of did it."

"That doesn't seem very fair though. You should've said something."

"Yeah…but it's no big deal…"

"Well…I guess it's kind of cool that you know how to cook and clean. I hear some stories about male partners, weapon or meister, that don't even pick up after themselves."

"Yeah…some of the guys complain about, 'My girl won't stop nagging me about the dishes!' or some bullshit like that."

"Locker room talk?"

"Yeah…I don't get involved."

"I try not to either."

"Still…you'll hear some funny stuff."

"Yeah…oh! Like, this one time, some girl was telling this story about having sex with her boyfriend…"

Syaoran's face went bright red. He never was comfortable talking about this subject.

"Ummm….Do I really want to hear this?"

"No, trust me. This is pretty funny."

"…okay…go on…" he sighed.

"Okay…so anyways, she was talking about having sex with her boyfriend, and they didn't have a condom, so instead they…pfftt…."

"What? What is it?"

Sakura was snickering.

"They…Instead of a condom, they…they used a sock!"

Syaoran nearly fell down a step.

"WHAT?!"

"I KNOW! They grabbed, like, a SOCK off the floor and…

"Oh God, that's gross…"

They stopped on the flight of steps they were on and started laughing. This went on for a short while before they started climbing more stairs.

"That's just…wow…" Syaoran chuckled, shaking his head in disdain.

"I KNOW! It's so gross…"

"I have, like, twenty questions."

"So did Tomoyo and I. We laughed about it for days."

Sakura sighed, and they got quiet.

"Do you miss her, Kinomoto?"

"Yeah…I wish…I wish she didn't feel the need to protect herself from me. She's…she's my best friend. I know she wouldn't hurt me. I don't know why she thinks otherwise. Still, I can't help but feel like it's my fault somehow."

"…I don't think you should blame yourself. It won't get you any closer to trying to help her."

"But…what _can_ I do? I know I have this…anti-demon whatever, but I don't even though what that is!"

"I think…since you're her friend, you just need to be there for her when you can. Knowing that your there will probably…be more than enough."

Sakura turned around to look at him. They made eye contact for a split second before Syaoran looked away and scratched his head.

"You're a lot nicer than I think we've given you credit for, Li," she said before continuing up the stairs.

"I'm just…_sigh_…glad I could help…"

They continued until Sakura turned to a door at the beginning of one of the staircases.

"This is the floor we need to be on," she whispered. Syaoran nodded and readied another light before they slowly opened the door and disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

As soon as they reached the apartment, Sakura fished for her key and opened the door. The door creaked open, and they were greeted with a room left in shambled. Parts of the floor were missing, with black voids warping underneath. Parts of the walls and ceiling seemed to do the same.

They walked around the voids in the apartment, as they reached the living room. With the dim lighting of Syaoran's flame, Sakura noticed a familiar pouch on the floor. She grabbed it and handed Syaoran his cards back.

"Found them?" he whispered.

"Yeah," she replied, "And we won't have to whisper for much longer."

She pulled out the card she wanted and whispered the spell.

"_Make us unheard by our Enemy. SILENT._"

The SILENT obeyed, and their world around them was now without sound. Sakura stomped on the floor. No sound. And then she yelled.

"HHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYY!"

Syaoran nearly jumped out of his skin, but there was no reaction from the spirit after she did this. Syaoran sighed in relief.

"Good call."

"Thanks!" Sakura chirped, "It probably won't last very long, so we'll probably have to hurry."

"Yeah…I think it's safe to say that the spirit's _definitely_ in this specific room."

"You sure?"

"Check next door to see if their apartment looks like this."

Sakura used THROUGH peeked next door. It looked normal, aside from some broken glass and some other messed-around items from the chaos.

"Nope. No weird void things."

"Then, my guess was right. Let's start looking."

They wandered the apartment, and came down a hallway, where the spiritual energy was the strongest. Unfortunately, they came across a large gap too big for them to jump.

"I can use FLY," Sakura suggested.

"Maybe, but just to be cautious, let's use a quieter way to get across," Syaoran added. He pulled out The FLOAT.

"Here," he said, handing her the card, but she shook her head.

"Let's use it together," she said, "It'll be more effective than if I just did it."

They both grabbed the card.

"_FLOAT!_"

A bubble formed around them, carrying them safely across. With a soft landing, they were now on the other side.

"Where to now?" Syaoran asked. Sakura shut her eyes to sense the spirit. She opened them in surprise.

"There are two…"

"What?"

"There are two of them here. They're in the same place…"

"Well…where are they?"

"They're…in the guest bedroom…where I sleep when I come over here…"

"They're waiting for us."

* * *

Sakura opened the door to see what she sensed: two spirits of Clow. One of them was a woman (at least that's what it looked like) in a jester costume and mask. She was making things disappear and reappear using some sort of cape. The other spirit was a small girl in a black bubble. Her hair was long and curly, with wings floating above her head. She wore a long grey dress and a dark, circular gem on her forehead. Her skin and eyes were pale and sickly. She was smiling and clapping at the jester woman's tricks.

The jester woman looked up to see Sakura and Syaoran ready to fight them. Her mask turned from a creepy smile to a frightening frown, and she disappeared from their sight.

"Damn!" Syaoran hissed, and soon he started to see that he was fading away.

"LI!" Sakura cried in distress.

"CALM DOWN. It's going to be fine. Just concentrate!"

Sakura's heart was pounding in her ears as she looked around the room. She saw a picture frame glowing on the dresser ahead of her. The young girl spirit merely watched with interest as Sakura ran towards it. It was a picture of her and Tomoyo smiling. She opened the frame, and out popped the jester, cover in diamond shapes and no longer wearing a frightening mask.

"She found me, VOID," the jester said and she warped into a golden bauble before Sakura's eyes. She pulled out a blank card and chanted the spell to seal it away. The jester woman appeared on the card, holding her mystical cape. It read The ERASE. Syaoran immediately stopped fading and returned to normal.

"You found her," the small spirit said, and Sakura and Syaoran turned their attention to her.

"And you found _me_," she continued. Sakura noticed that the room hadn't returned to normal.

"Sadly, I cannot go with you yet, Ms. Sakura," she added, "I must wait until you've gathered them all. Clow Reed says I must stop you, but I must deliver a message of my own."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, as did Syaoran.

"_Release us_," she echoed, "_We are doomed to wander this limbo forever if we stay here. Release us. We are scared to be alone._"

The dark bubble around her went completely back, and she vanished out of sight. The apartment then returned to normal as the lights flickered back on.

"Well, that was odd," Syaoran commented walking over to Sakura.

"She said 'us.' Do you think she meant her and the other spirits?"

"She probably messing with us," he shrugged, but Sakura didn't seem so sure.

"Sakura?" a familiar voice called out, "What's Ms. Meiling Li doing in the living room?"

It was Yukito.

"Sounds like he doesn't remember disappearing," Syaoran shrugged.

"Meiling probably won't remember either then," Sakura giggled.

"We better get out there."

"Yeah…. Hey! Do you wanna hang out with us for the rest of Christmas Eve?"

Syaoran seemed unsure.

"It's only eleven. At midnight, we turn in so that we can enjoy a late Christmas morning. You can stay for a little while. You and Meiling."

"I dunno…"

"I promise I won't let Kero-chan or Touya try to kill you," she teased.

They could hear Syaoran's stomach grumble with hunger.

"Well, I guess that settles it," Sakura chirped before hollering at Yukito, "SHE AND LI ARE JOING US FOR CHRISTMAS EVE! IS THAT COOL?"

"No way! I don't want that brat anywhere near me!" she could hear Touya yell from beyond.

"It'll be fine, Touya," Yukito cooed.

"Don't make such a fit over it," Sakura's father sighed.

Sakura opened the door and they headed out to the rest of the group.

"I'm just glad they're all back," she murmured to herself, smiling with relief.

"Saku…Kinomoto?" Syaoran began.

"Hmm?" Sakura turned to him.

"I've been wondering. How come you call me by my last name, but you don't call Meiling by her last name?"

"Well…I figured it'd get confusing, but mostly it's because _you_ call _me_ by my last name. It seems only fair, right?"

"I guess…"

They walked down the hall, heading to the living room. Syaoran felt stupid for it, but his face was going red, and he wanted to at least saying something.

"Sorry I couldn't help you back there…or…"

"What are you talking about? You helped me a lot! I don't think I would've gotten a hold of myself if you hadn't snapped me out of it. So thank you!"

Syaoran was even redder than before. He didn't know what she was doing to him, but he found it extremely annoying, and he wished his heart would stop beating so fast.

It only got worse when he saw Yukito, and he stayed like that for most of the evening. Sakura grabbed some desserts, including some eggnog, bread pudding, and a homemade cherry pie, as her father helped her. With much coaxing, Sakura, Meiling, and Syaoran used The SNOW spirit to make it snow outside for Christmas Eve. Everyone enjoyed the rest of the evening, even the small girl spirit, as she sat outside the window. She smiled longingly at the happy group inside, feeling the warmth of the room come through the window. She basked in it before disappearing into the night.


	15. Chapter 14: Switch

AN: Okay. No more Christmas things during the summer break. Now, it's JANUARY! … Think of it as a way of cooling off?

* * *

After catching The ERASE, things were strangely quiet for the rest of the break. Death City released its colorful fireworks display, celebrating the New Year, and the new semester began soon after.

Sakura began perfecting her anti-demon wavelength skills, in the meantime. While Tomoyo was absent, someone Syaoran became the demon weapon test subject for these particular lessons.

"Ms. Yuuko recommended it," Maka explained to Sakura, Syaoran, and Meiling.

"Ms…Yuuko?" Sakura bemused. There was a clicking of heels outside and in walked in the new teacher for young witches, Ms. Yuuko Ichihara. She sported a dark pencil skirt and a tight-fitting blouse. Her long, dark hair was pinned into a bun, some long pieces of hair pooling to the side.

"Their souls are compatible to a certain extent," Yuuko said, and then turning to Sakura, "I told her to give it a shot."

Maka and Yuuko watched these exercises carefully. Thankfully, nothing seemed to go wrong. However, the strange part for Sakura was closing her eyes while Syaoran was just a few feet away, and then opening her eyes to see him right next to her.

"He's drawn to your wavelength," Yuuko commented.

"That's good!" Maka nodded and took down some notes.

Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other in confusion. Meiling merely sat to the side, glaring at them in disdain.

* * *

Sakura now stood before a cell door, blank school papers and other school items in her hand. She knocked on the door, as it let out soft, metal clangs.

"Tomoyo? I…brought the homework you missed."

A small door at the top opened revealing a pair of sunken blue eyes. Tomoyo reached a hand out for the papers. Sakura handed them to her gently, and Tomoyo took them in her cell before closing the little peep door.

"We were all wondering when you were going to come back to class," Sakura added, trying to sound cheerful.

There was silence.

"Everyone's been talking about you. They miss you, Tomoyo."

Still silence.

"I miss you…"

There was a shuffling noise, and the small peep door opened again.

"I miss you too, Sakura," Tomoyo cooed from her self-made prison.

"I've been…practicing my anti-demon…thing…" Sakura chirped.

"Have you now?" Tomoyo replied sadly.

"Here. Gimme your hand."

Tomoyo hesitated but obeyed. The two girls held hands for a minute, and then, Tomoyo felt it. It was a calming sensation, so warm and blissful. Her spirits lifted. She felt a moment of peace, being away from the voices in her head.

"Wow…Sakura, that's fantastic," Tomoyo said breathlessly. Sakura smiled as her friend gazed at her lovingly through the peep hole.

"I hear you can capture spirits without a weapon," Tomoyo added, and Sakura froze, looking down somberly.

"Yeah…only…sparingly," Sakura replied, "They said it makes me more susceptible to 'madness' or something."

"Madness…" Tomoyo whispered, disappearing from her peep hole into her cell.

"Madness…yes…I've learned it all too well in here."

"Then, come back, Tomoyo! I can help you now!"

"No…no, it's…not that simple…"

"Tomoyo, you're my best friend. You're my partner. You can trust me. … Please?"

Tomoyo seemed to consider it for a moment, but then retreated back. Sakura had never seen her friend so scared. She heard Tomoyo weep as she slowly walked away. Maka Albarn-Evans was waiting for her.

"She didn't want to leave, did she?" Maka said.

"No," Sakura replied.

"I told Kid…Lord Death that leaving her alone like this would only make the madness worse. Still, it seems like we can't dissuade her, even with the new training I've given you."

Sakura looked like she was about to cry, so Maka put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," she assured, "Just visit her like this and just be there for her. She needs the support."

Sakura nodded and smiled a little.

"For now, we need to find you a new weapon partner. Just…until Tomoyo gets better… I'm going to see if Mira Nygus can see to her care. Although, I'm not sure if you can resonate with someone else. We usually don't…"

"Li…" Sakura murmured.

"Excuse me?"

"Li…I…I resonated with him…. We caught a spirit…The ILLUSION…"

Maka looked intrigued, but she wasn't sure if this was the right call. Syaoran Li already had a partner, and she wasn't sure if his meister would be okay with this.

They would just have to test it.

* * *

"NO!"

Maka was right. Meiling Li wasn't going to be okay with this.

"I'M NOT GIVING UP MY PARTNER! WHAT KIND OF DUMBASS IDEA IS THAT?"

"We're not asking you to completely give up your partner, Meiling," Maka reassured, "We just need a temporary partner for Sakura until Tomoyo agrees to come back. Sakura needs to catch these spirits…"

"YEAH, WELL, SO DO I!" Meiling snapped.

"We," Syaoran corrected.

"What?"

"_We_ need to collect spirits of Clow. It's not just 'you.'"

Meiling opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, her lips pressed together to form a line.

"You've been using 'I' and 'me' whenever talking about this sort of thing," Syaoran added, "It's not affecting our resonance very much, but, believe me, I've noticed."

"So?" Meiling retorted.

"So…we're supposed to be a team. Isn't that how you see it?"

"Of course I do! I…"

"Then, can I say something about all of this?"

"… Okay…"

"I'm okay being Sakura's partner."

"WHAT?!"

"We resonate well. I…." and he stopped. He wanted to say that he felt safe but strong in Sakura's grasp. It felt like home for him. However, all he did was look down, scratching the back of his head. His cheeks pinked a little.

"But…but, you're my partner. You promised."

"Meiling…"

"You promised you'd be _my_ partner!"

Maka tried to look at something else, staying out of whatever teenaged angst was going on in front of her right now. It reminded her of Soul and her somehow, from what little she heard.

"I know I did, Meiling, but…" Syaoran began.

"But what?" Meiling interrupted, "You changed your mind? You want the more powerful meister instead _my_ useless ass?!"

"That's not true, Meiling!"

"THEN WHAT IS IT?!"

"I CAN'T…I can't explain it…"

"Oh, you can't, can you? Please…"

"No, Meiling…you…you don't understand…"

"OH, I UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T WANT YOUR USELESS COUSIN AS YOUR PARTNER. YOU DON'T WANT ME AROUND AND GETTING IN YOUR WAY! YOU NEVER CHANGE!"

"Meiling…"

"**I HATE YOU!**"

And with that, Meiling ran off in tears. It was at this point that Maka was paying the most attention. Concerned for her student, she decided to go after her.

"You kids stay here. I'm going to try and calm her down."

They nodded as their teacher followed the now upset meister. Sakura sat down on the floor, and Syaoran joined her. Without really speaking, he leaned his head against Sakura's shoulder. He could feel her soul wavelength soothing him, and he shut his eyes. Sakura was surprised, but somehow didn't protest. She just smiled and leaned against his head. She felt a chaos in his soul wavelength. She released her anti-demon wavelength, and that seemed to help. They stayed like this, waiting for their teacher and fellow meister to return.

* * *

Maka eventually found a sobbing Meiling in the girl's locker room. She sat down next to her, tucking her long plaid skirt underneath.

"Hey…" Maka cooed.

"Wha' d'you want?" Meiling sniffed.

"I know how you feel."

"No you don't."

"Sure I do. The feeling of betrayal from your partner?"

Meiling looked up, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Yeah, I know the feeling."

"But…that Soul Eater guy's your weapon partner, right?"

"Yup. And he did a really stupid thing when we were younger."

Meiling listened.

"So…we were supposed to find this witch's soul to turn him into a death scythe, right? Well, we came across what looked like this witch's house. Now, she was… is this real buxom woman. And, of course, being a stupid boy, he was all googoo eyes over her. She asked him to come be his weapon, and, in an attempt to trick her, he said yes."

Meiling raised an eyebrow, but Maka continued.

"Anyways, I didn't know he was tricking her, and of course, I felt completely betrayed. I have this…weird hate relationship with my dad, and I always thought men were filthy cheaters because of him. I thought Soul would be different, you know? So…I was hurt. Well, as soon as his trick became more obvious, we ended up defeating the witch together.

"Well, turns out, that witch was actually an over-powered cat. But regardless, we formed a new, stronger trust from that moment. That, and I kicked the shit out of him for it, for tricking me like that."

"What's your point?"

"Okay, okay. Point. The point is that I understand how you feel. You feel like it's a personal attack against you, right?"

Meiling nodded.

"Listen, when you're dealing with boys, they do some dumb stuff that we girls just don't get. Same goes for boys. People sometimes fail to communicate with each other on things. So…talk with him. Tell him what you're feeling. You don't need to criticize him or anything. Just make your feelings and intentions clear. If he respects you, I'm sure he'll understand."

Meiling made a sniffling nose, and Maka handed her a tissue from a small pack she kept in her pocket.

"Did that help?" she asked.

"Yeah…thank you," Meiling answered, and they both got up off the floor.

The lights in the room began to flicker. Then, a small streak sped past them by their feet. It sped through the door and ran out into the hall. Maka and Meiling soon ran after it, but it was nowhere to be found. They decided to head back to the classroom to make sure Sakura and Syaoran hadn't found it first.

* * *

Before the scurrying creature could escape, Sakura had slammed the door and locked it. The creature hid away, and Sakura ran over to Syaoran.

"Did you see where it went?" she asked.

Syaoran shook his head.

"We may have to wait until it comes out again, then," Sakura muttered. She gave her companion a look and then held out her hand. As if silently agreeing with her, he transformed into a sword. Sakura held him in her grasp, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"Do you have your cards with you?" Sakura asked.

"They're in my backpack, on the desk," he answered, his after-image appearing in the sword's silver blade. Sakura began to tiptoe her way to Syaoran's desk, trying to be as quite as possible. She slowly reached for his bag when suddenly the creature they were after bolted from under the desk, dashing across the classroom floor.

"Dammit!" Syaoran hissed.

Sakura quickly grabbed the cards in his bag, but before she could see where their target went, it was out of sight again. With a huff, Sakura began adding Syaoran's cards in with hers.

"Don't worry," she assured, "I'll give them back when we're done."

When Syaoran looked, Sakura was lifting the side of her skirt, revealing more of her slender legs. Heat came off of the silver blade in her hand.

"Wha-What are you doing?!" Syaoran cried in protest.

"Relax, I keep my cards in a holster under my skirt," she pouted.

"Since when?!"

"Since Tomoyo gave this to me. She said she got her sewing machine back from when her mother visited. She's been making me things while…she's been away."

Sakura undid the button to the card holster and slid the cards inside.

"Sheesh…I didn't know Daidouji was so…crafty," Syaoran mumbled, his cheeks turning redder by the minute.

"It's just a late Christmas gift," Sakura shrugged, "She felt bad about missing Christmas with me. She likes to make me things sometimes. I don't know where she got the leather though…"

There was a pause before Sakura dug out a Clow card, ready to attack.

"Anyways, we better catch this thing, right?" Sakura piped up.

"R-right…" Syaoran stuttered out, the image of Sakura's leg still replaying in his head. He mentally shook away the thought and began to focus again.

Sakura tried to sense out where the creature was, using her soul perception. She immediately noticed it, as she spotted a golden light on the opposite side of the room. It appeared to be shaking in fear.

She slowly approached it. As she reached the desk, she swiftly threw the card up in the air and cast it's spell.

"_TIME!_"

The creature sped out, but it was immediately slowed down by the spell. It seemed that even in stopped time, this creature was still able to move, only much slower. Sakura could see that this creature was a like a cat or a small fox, with very long ears, like a rabbit's. It turned to look at her, and a blue diamond twinkled on its forehead.

While Sakura didn't want to hurt it, she aimed carefully, and with her eyes shut tightly, she stabbed through the creature. It's remains wisped around before it turned into the golden bauble it needed to be. With that, Sakura opened her eyes, sealing the creature away into a card with the help of Syaoran's blade.

The card formed a picture of the small, cat-like creature with long ears. The name at the bottom read The DASH.

As Sakura began to relax, there was a loud banging on the door. Syaoran transformed back into his human self and ran over to unlock the door.

* * *

Maka and Meiling were surprised to see that the two had caught another spirit of Clow, as Sakura held The DASH up in her hand.

Meiling, of course, made up with her cousin, who apologized as well. After a short conversation, Meiling agreed to let Syaoran be Sakura's partner.

"It's not that I like it, but…it's fine," she pouted, "You gotta do what you gotta do."

Sakura smiled a little and grabbed Meiling's hand.

"Thank you!" she grinned. Meiling was taken aback, but she rolled her eyes and grinned back.

"Well, then, it's settled!" Maka beamed, "Meiling, I'll need you to help Sakura learn some sword fighting techniques. I'll be sure to spot things, and make your resonance stays in check. We'll all work hard together, okay?"

Everyone agreed. Syaoran would continue to stay with Meiling. At least, he would stay for the time being.


	16. Chapter 15: Move

AN: Less cardy fighty and more slicey lifey. My dad has this awesome recipe for chili. And where _did_ Tomoyo get that leather?

* * *

Sakura became a frequent visitor at Meiling and Syaoran's apartment. Clearly the more social of the three, she would bring games and other things to do. Meiling bonded with these sorts of things instantly. Syaoran, on the other hand, was much quieter.

"Aaww man, I'm hungry," Meiling grumbled, "Is it that late already."

The clock read 6:50 pm.

"I should probably go then," Sakura began, putting away the giant stacks of cards for the Apples to Apples game she brought with her.

"No no no!" Meiling protested, "Stay! We'll get dinner started. We've got plenty of food, right Syaoran?"

"I believe so," he nodded.

"There you have it! C'mon, Sakura! You can totally stay for dinner."

"Um…alright!"

"Yeah! Okay, Syaoran, why don't you go ahead and start cookin'?"

Syaoran made a small grunt, getting up off the floor, and heading off to the kitchen. Sakura frowned. Meiling continued to sit on the floor, as she helped put more of the cards away in the wooden box.

"Does he need any help?" Sakura puzzled.

"He'll be fine. He usually cooks anyways," Meiling brushed off.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, as Meiling got up off the floor to stretch.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom. Get right back," she yawned, as she walked out of the room. Sakura shut the wooden box, looking over towards the kitchen.

Syaoran stood at the counter, as he finished cutting some onions. His face was expressionless, as he cleaned off the knife and put it away. He took the onions and scraped them into a bowl that had diced tomatoes in it. He opened the fridge and found the ground beef.

There was a knocking sound by the entrance to the kitchen, and he turned towards it.

"Figured I'd come in and help," Sakura smiled, as she walked over to him. Syaoran felt his body freeze and his cheeks heat up. He didn't get why this always seemed to happen around her.

"Wha'cha makin'?" she bemused, looking at the pot of water heating up on the stove.

"Chili," he answered, "Got the recipe on this cooking website."

"Ooo, that sounds pretty good! Have you made it before?"

"Not really…"

"I can certainly help! My dad has a great recipe for chili that he taught me!"

Syaoran looked surprised. He wasn't expecting her to be so willing to help.

"If…if that's okay…" she said, almost like a question.

Syaoran nodded.

"Oh good! Lemme see the recipe you have."

He handed her a printed-out piece of paper, which she scanned over carefully.

"Seems close to what I learned…although, there aren't a lot of spices listed here…"

"Spices? Like…to make it spicey?"

"Oh no…nothing like that. There's some spices you can add to give the beef a richer flavor. And…huh…that's weird…it says to add the spices _after_ you put in all of the ingredients. I'd put them in before."

Syaoran looked puzzled.

"Here. You have the ground beef and a bowl?"

Syaoran nodded. He placed the beef near the large bowl needed for mixing the ingredients together. Sakura was already nosing through all of the cabinets.

"Where do you keep the spices?" she asked.

Syaoran pointed to the cabinet next to him.

"Ah. Thanks!"

She rushed over, flinging the small doors open and shuffling through the tiny jars and containers.

"Oh good, here's some rosemary and some thyme. Ooo, basil leaves!"

Syaoran just stood there, not really knowing what to do. However, Sakura seemed to be stretching for something she couldn't reach.

"What do you need?" he asked.

"There's some…beef cubes…up here," she grunted out, continuing to reach for a small, plastic jar, filled with small, wrapped-up cubes. Syaoran reached above her, struggling only a little and grabbing the jar.

"Here," he said, handing her what she wanted.

"Thank you!" she smiled, taking the jar, and scurrying behind him. She put the beef cubes by the tomatoes and onions by the stove and ran over with the other spices to the ground beef.

She opened the package and emptied the beef into the bowl. She took large pinches of rosemary, thyme, and basil and sprinkled them in liberally. After this, she began kneading the spices into the beef with her hands.

"Ummm…"

"Yes?" she turned over to Syaoran.

"Can I…um…"

"OH! I'm sorry! I'm practically taking over the kitchen, aren't I?"

"It's okay. It's just…what can I do?"

She smiled.

"Can you check the water and see if it's boiling yet? And do you have any red beans?"

Syaoran checked the water and then moved over to the pantry. There was a can of red beans, which he brought over.

"Okay, good! If you could put those in with the tomatoes and onions, that'd be awesome! After that, you wanna take a turn kneading the beef?"

Syaoran smiled and nodded. He emptied the can of beans into the other ingredients by the stove. Coming over to Sakura, he stepped if and helped with the ground beef.

"Do you have any tomato sauce?" Sakura asked.

"Umm…yeah. It's in the fridge. Why?"

"I'm going to pour it in the water for the chili. It'll give it a tomato base."

Syaoran nodded. After washing her hands, she went for a fridge and grabbed the tomato sauce. Syaoran looked over his shoulder to see her pouring a liberal amount of sauce into the pot.

"Shouldn't you measure that first?" he panicked.

"It's fine. Dad says there's just some things you don't need to measure."

"You learned cooking from your dad?"

"Yep. He's a really good cook! He made most of those dishes at the Christmas party, remember?"

"Oh yeah…that was…oh, does this look okay?"

He showed her the contents of the bowl, the ground beef now littered with the spices in the bowl.

"Looks good! Now, we need to cook the beef and make it tender to put in the chili."

Syaoran nodded in agreement. We washed his hands and grabbed a pan and spatula to cook the beef in. With some non-stick oil, he cooked the beef, as Sakura checked on the boiling water and tomato sauce.

It didn't take long for the beef to cook as the water began to boil, and the two of them added the beef and the other ingredients, stirring them together. Sakura added a beef cube, stirring the contents as the cube melted into the hot, steaming water. Syaoran grabbed a lid and put it on top of the pot. Sakura set a timer.

"Now we can wait a bit!" she chirped, "I'll help set the table."

"Sakura, what are you doing?" a voice piped in.

Meiling stood by the kitchen entrance.

"Oh, I was just helping Li make dinner!"

"Why?"

Sakura frowned.

"Well…I thought he could use some help," Sakura shrugged.

There was an awkward pause.

"Alright. Whatever," Meiling mumbled, as she turned around to head back into the living room. There was a click and the sound of the television being turned on.

"I remember you saying that Meiling doesn't really help you cook, but…" Sakura started, but she cut herself off.

"It's fine," Syaoran shrugged, "She doesn't cook a lot, and she's not very good at it."

Sakura let out a sigh. She hadn't been very good at cooking either when she started, but she got better over time with practice. She was sure Meiling would get better with practice too. However, she kept this thought to herself.

"Do you…ever wish she _would_ help?" Sakura finally asked.

"…Sometimes…"

They started grabbing bowls and spoons to set the table.

"Have you told her?" Sakura asked.

"Not really," Syaoran replied solemnly.

"Why not?"

"I don't really want to fight with her about it, so…"

"It doesn't have to be a fight. You can just…talk about it."

There was a pause. Syaoran seemed somber for whatever reason.

"Do you…not like being partners with her?"

Syaoran stopped dead, his hand resting on the spoon he just set down.

"That's not…"

"Then what is it?"

Syaoran seemed to be trying to say something, but he just couldn't speak. He was fumbling over his words, scratching the back of his head, and fidgeting with his hands. Sakura had never really seen him like this very much. He usually seemed so collected.

Without thinking, she blurted out.

"Come stay with me."

Syaoran stopped fidgeting and looked at her, blinking a few times in disbelief.

"What?"

Realizing what she just said, she turned pink.

"W-well, they say that living with your meister or weapon improves your resonance with them, and since we're not partners…"

"But, it's only temporary," Syaoran added.

"I know that, but…well, maybe staying at my place can be temporary too!"

They both looked at each other for a while, and then the timer for the chili went off.

"I'll get that!" Sakura stammered with her cheeks still pink.

* * *

"Ah YUM!" Meiling hummed in glee, as she took her first bite of chili.

"It's okay?" Sakura asked.

"It's fantastic! I can't believe you're so good at cooking!"

"Well, I guess we _both_ are," she motioned to Syaoran.

Meiling nodded, eating more of the chili enthusiastically. The table was silent for a moment, as all of the kids filled their mouths with the beefy concoction.

"So…I was thinkin'…" Meiling said, a mouth full of beans and beef, "Y'know how Daidouji's all cooped up in that cell?"

Sakura nodded sadly.

"I got this. Why don't we trade weapon partner? She'll stay here and get better, while Syaoran stays at your place!"

Syaoran coughed a little on his food but recovered fairly quickly. Sakura looked up in surprise at Meiling.

"You're okay with your cousin moving in with me?"

"Well, sure! I mean, it's only temporary, and we're all friends, right?"

Syaoran and Sakura looked at each other. Syaoran looked bewildered, but Sakura gradually smiled in excitement.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, "Totally!"

"What d'ya think, Syaoran?" Meiling asked, "Sound cool for now?"

Syaoran took a swig of water. He needed air. He needed to breathe. He calmed down for a moment. Joy was swelling up in his chest against his better judgement. He gave a small smile and nodded.

"Then, it's settled!" Meiling smiled, taking another bite of chili.

* * *

"Hey, Daidouji," Meiling hollered on the phone line.

"Hello, Meiling, how are you?"

"I'm good. That meister of yours makes a mean bowl of chili."

Tomoyo giggled.

"It's all settled. Syaoran's moving in with Sakura in a few days, so you'll be able to get out of that dusty old cell."

"That's good. Since I've started sewing again, it's been getting hard to see in here."

"I'm glad I can help you out."

"And thank you so much for the leather. Sakura loved the new holster I made when she visited."

"Yeah, I kept seeing that thing. She wears it as a belt?"

"You can wear it like that or as a leg garter and so many other ways."

"You're pretty crafty there."

Tomoyo let out a soft giggle.

"You don't mind this change?"

"It's for the best. I just don't want to hurt Sakura, and I don't know why. Your wavelength is very calming for me, that first time you visited me."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Well, this thing's only temporary, right?"

"Yes, Meiling."

"Good. I don't want him away for too long. After this is all over, he and I have to go back to Hong Kong."

"I see."

"At least when you're out, you'll be able to get the fabrics yourself! You won't have to count on me!"

"Indeed not!"

"The fabric store here in Death City's insane. You'll probably like it."

"I'm sure I will."

"…In case you were wondering, Sakura does seem to miss you."

"…"

"She talks about you a lot."

"Really?"

"Yeah…"

There was a pause.

"I'll see you all in a few days," Tomoyo finally spoke.

"Yeah, see you later."

Tomoyo hung up the prison phone with a click, and Sid led her back to her cell. While he could see it, Tomoyo smiled as a tear ran down her face.

* * *

Sakura dropped her bag. She was heading over to Meiling's to help grab Syaoran's things, but she opened the door to a surprise.

Tomoyo stood in the doorway, smiling gently and her eyes watery. Sakura instantly hugged her dearest friend so tightly that she might break a rib or two. Tomoyo returned the embrace.

"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH," Sakura sobbed into her shoulder.

"I missed you too, Sakura," she whispered so that only Sakura could hear.

"All of his stuff is packed, so you're all good to go, Tomoyo!" Meiling called, as she put the last cardboard box in the living room with the others.

"So…you're moving in with Meiling?" Sakura asked.

"That's the plan," Tomoyo explained, "The teachers were talking, and Meiling and I agreed that we should just trade partners for the time being until things settle down."

Sakura looked down sadly. She didn't want Tomoyo in that musty old cell, but she didn't want her old weapon partner to leave her either. Tomoyo put her hands on Sakura's shoulders.

"We'll still see each other and hang out. Don't worry. You're still my best friend."

Sakura nodded and then smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be alright," Tomoyo added before give her a small peck on the forehead and running back in to help Meiling and Syaoran. Sakura stood at the door, her thoughts hazy, but she eventually walked in and joined everyone, clearing her head.

Once they put most of the boxes in a large truck that Yukito drove over, Sakura and Syaoran rode off, waving goodbyes to Meiling and Tomoyo behind them.

"Thanks for helping with this, Yukito," Sakura commented. She sat next to Yukito in the middle while Syaoran had the window seat.

"It's no trouble at all," Yukito replied, "Your brother was very stubborn about wanting to help out."

"I don't think he likes Li very much."

"You can say that again. He never tells me why. Must be because he's a boy."

Syaoran made an angry groan.

"Touya always seems to get on edge when I talk about boys," Sakura added.

"Really?" Yukito responded.

"Yeah. I make fun of him for it, of course. It's like he's got some weird sister complex or something."

Syaoran chuckled at this.

"I wonder why he was never wary about Tomoyo though?" Sakura thought aloud, "He seemed to know that she liked me.

"He told me that it was because he knew Tomoyo well enough through her times hanging out with you. He knew enough to know she wouldn't try to do anything to make you uncomfortable," Yukito explained.

"But I know Li wouldn't do something like that," Sakura pointed out, "I think he's got other interests anyways, right Li?"

He looked over at her as she gave him a thumbs-up. She was hinting at his crush on Yukito. Syaoran immediately got this and turned away, his face now beet red. Sakura giggled as Yukito continued to drive.

They reached Sakura's dormitory and started to haul boxes. Sakura was able to carry more with the help of a dolly. Syaoran carried most of his stuff in his hands.

"Have you thought about telling him?" Sakura asked as Yukito passed by.

Syaoran blushed and shook his head.

"Aaww, why not?"

"Have _you _thought about telling him?" Syaoran retorted.

"Touché. Only a little bit."

"How come _you_ haven't told him?"

"Because…I wanna wait until I'm older."

"Why?"

"So that I'm old enough to marry him!"

Syaoran nearly dropped the box he carried.

"You're planning that far ahead?!" he asked, bewildered.

"Sure! Why not?"

"It's just…I dunno…I don't see you marrying the guy."

"Oh, and you do?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you do, don't you?"

"Not really…"

"Really?"

"Well…" he started as all of the blood rushed into his face, "It…feels good to be around him, but I dunno if I'd want to marry the guy. I mean…"

"Who _would_ you marry?" Sakura eyebrowed.

"I don't know!" Syaoran stuttered out, "I haven't met…that person yet, I guess."

"Okay, fine, but I don't see why _I_ can't marry him."

"Isn't he, like…way older than us? Like your brother?"

"That's why I'm waiting until I'm older!"

"I know…but still…"  
They got to Sakura's, and now Syaoran's, dorm, and Sakura opened the door, letting Syaoran in first.

"How long are you planning on waiting exactly?" Syaoran continued, "I don't know if he's really going to wait or…"

"If it's meant to be, I think he will," Sakura beamed, a hopeful look in her eyes. Syaoran, on the other hand, seemed doubtful. Worried even.

"What if it isn't?"

"I think it _is_."

"But, what if it _isn't_? What are you going to do?"

Sakura frowned. She never really considered the possibility of there being someone else meant for her. She unloaded the boxes from the dolly, and they kept talking as they went downstairs to get more things. Sakura left the door open. A small, fairy-like creature ducked into the dorm while they weren't looking.

"Look, I'm sorry," Syaoran mumbled guiltily, "I just…don't want to see you get your hopes up, and then…get hurt somehow."

Sakura looked surprised by this.

"You're _that_ worried about me?" she asked.

"Well…I…um…I mean…"

"Thank you."

She gave him a side hug, and his body stiffened at the physical contact.

"Are you okay?" she enquired.

"I, uh, don't really…" he started, and then he motioned at the hug she was giving him.

"Oh gosh! I'm sorry! You don't like being touched, do you?"

"Not really…"

"That explains why you stiffen up in Meiling's grasp, isn't it?"

Syaoran nodded.

"It's okay. I'll do my best to not—"

Before she could finish, they heard a small poof behind them. They turned around and headed back to the dorm room.

All of Syaoran's boxes were now bite sized squares.

* * *

It was exhausting, but they caught it, and it made moving Syaoran's stuff into the apartment. It was a small and mischievous spirit of Clow called The LITTLE, which the two decided to use to shrink Syaoran's things down to a manageable size. They were still covered in sweat from chasing the small creature.

Thankfully, it was interested in the objects and not people, because when Sakura tried turning Syaoran's boxes back to a normal size (at least the ones they used the card on), she couldn't.

"Do you know any spells to make things bigger?" Syaoran asked anxiously.

"I…ngh…no. I only know about the spirit of Clow called The BIG, but I don't know where that would be…" Sakura stammered as Yukito tapped her shoulder. He appeared to be looking up at something. Sakura looked up to see a tall giant of a woman in clothes that were clearly too large for her. She smiled serenely at Sakura, and everyone backed away, trying not to step on the now small boxes.

The spirit looked down to see the problem. She frowned, but then she smiled, waving a big shirt sleeve. The boxes then became bigger. Maybe too big. They were now twice their original size, as tall as Syaoran. The spirit smiled triumphantly.

"No, no!" Sakura cried, waving her hands at the spirit to stop. She seemed confused.

"It's too big!" Sakura signaled, waving her arms. The spirit, however, took this as a sign to make the boxes bigger. They were now as tall as Yukito.

"No! No no no!" Sakura cried again. This time, she held out The LITTLE card.

The spirit looked at it, squinting. Seeming to understand, she suddenly contorted herself into a golden orb. Wiggling out of the rubble, Syaoran helped Sakura to seal the spirit away. The tall woman in too-large clothes now appeared on the card. It was, of course, titled The BIG.

"Well, that certainly made today interesting, didn't it?" Yukito added, awkwardly. With combined effort of both The BIG and LITTLE, Sakura returned the boxes to their normal sizes. The two teenagers were then settled into their new rooms, now with two more Clow Cards. There were now only thirteen left to catch.


	17. Chapter 16: Sunrise

AN: So, there's a partner switcheroo! Only thirteen spirits of Clow left to capture. I wanted to focus more on writing a dream-like part. Dreams are fun to write. There will probably be more of them as the story continues. Dreams are very important in this.

* * *

Sakura fell quickly asleep after a long day of capturing spirits of Clow. Syaoran, of course, crashed into his room next door to Sakura's. They didn't bother cooking anything and just ordered cheap Chinese food. Now, they were asleep, bellies full of stir-fry and MSG.

They now had The CREATE, GLOW, MAZE, and ARROW. Their two small card stacks now made one large one, and they only had nine cards left to make. Sakura fell into peaceful sleep, dreaming over their night's adventure.

One of their classmates, Naoko, had their hands on a journal that brought to life whatever was written in it: The CREATE. When Syaoran and Sakura found The MAZE, strange creatures began blocking their path. Sakura began putting her new sword wielding to use as she slashed through monster after monster.

Then, of course, two more cards showed up in the maze: a young girl with a bow and arrow, and then raining balls of light. Using SHIELD, Sakura was able to get close enough to strike the archer girl, reaping and capturing her, now named The ARROW. The balls of light were easier to catch, and they were named The GLOW, a picture of a fairy girl holding a fuzzy flower.

Using BIG, Sakura made herself tower over the maze, and she was able to escape it. Once she captured The MAZE, her dream went black. Everything went black.

Complete darkness.

The ground below felt so far away. Sakura took out The LITTLE and shrunk back down to her original size. When she did, her surroundings were covered in red curtains. She pulled it down only to have the ground liquefy below her, and she fell through into the black liquid below. With the curtain still in her hands, Sakura climbed up it to try and reach the surface.

Finding a solid piece to grab, she hoisted herself out of the black ooze. It dripped off of her hair like ink, but it felt like something thicker and heavier on the rest of her body. She looked down to see that her outfit she previously wore was gone. It was replaced with black fabric created by the black liquid she crawled out of. It was long and flowing.

She stepped out to feel tile underneath her bare feet. She walked towards a red door and reached out. Her hand, both of which were covered in long black gloves, reached for the knob and gave it a twist. It opened with ease, and she stepped inside.

It looked like a music room of some sort. There was a record player, and a leather recliner. The tile was a black and white checkerboard pattern. Sakura decided to play a game with herself and only stepped on the white tiles. She reached for the recliner and sat down. The rest of the room was dark.

Out of nervousness, Sakura fiddled with the record player next to her. It played a slow, jazzy sort of tune. She relaxed herself in the chair as she played with her new black dress. It had cap sleeves that went off her shoulders, and the skirt flared out, going down to just below her ankles. There was tulle and a dress liner underneath the skirt of the dress, giving it an elegant poof. Her black gloves went up to just below her elbows. Somehow, they weren't slipping down at all.

She played with the tulle of the skirt before she got bored and decided to get out of the chair. She twirled in her newly found ball gown as she made her way into the darkness ahead. Stopping, she saw that new lights were dimming up before her. They looked like souls, but the elegant flames were held captive on long candlesticks.

The room soon became more noticeable. Instead of it being a music room, as Sakura had initially imagined, it was a library. There was a desk, shelves filled with books, and there were some books that scattered the floor. The jazz music, the record player, and the recliner were now gone, in the darkness behind her.

Sakura had a difficult time getting around all of the books with her big poufy dress in the way. She tripped on a book or two before finding a young man in a book heap behind the desk.

It was Syaoran, with a book over his face.

"Li?" Sakura whispered. She looked around before taking the book off his eyes and saying his name again softly. He jolted awake, sitting upright on the uncomfortable pile. He was wearing a suit…or at least most of a suit.

It was a black pinstripe piece, with a red dress shirt and black tie. He wore the pinstripe vest and pants. All he was missing was the jacket that was lying on the desk. Syaoran finally stood up and brushed himself off.

"What are you doing here?" Syaoran asked, nervously.

"I'm not sure," Sakura replied, "We were battling those cards. Then, suddenly, I'm in a music room, and then I'm here."

Syaoran looked over at the jacket on the desk and decided to grab it.

"I suppose we should investigate a little," he said, straightening his newfound jacket. Sakura came over and straightened the rest of his suit.

"I suppose so," she answered cheerfully. She grabbed his hand, and they walked onward into the darkness. She couldn't see Syaoran rather red face, as they continued holding hands.

"Oh right, you don't like to be touched. Sorry!"

Sakura let go of Syaoran's hand, and the warmth of her hand went with it. Despite being less uncomfortable, Syaoran someone felt disappointed, for reasons he wasn't sure of.

A mirror wall appeared between the two of them. Sakura was drawn to going on one side, while Syaoran went on the other. Sakura could hear the clacking of shoes, both of Syaoran's and her own. She didn't remember ever putting on shoes, but she looked at her feet in the mirror to see new, black, strap-on pumps. They made tiny clacks, acting as a treble sound to the bass of Syaoran's clacking dress shoes.

Noticing this, Sakura began stepping into a rhythm. Her feet clacked on the tile as she twirled around with her steps, like she was doing a tap dance. If Syaoran had noticed, he didn't say anything. However, his steps sounded as if he was doing the same thing.

They continued this song of clacking feet as their reflections moved to the beat of their moves. Soon, the mirror ended, and Sakura turned to find Syaoran, but he wasn't there.

Now there was only silence and darkness surrounding Sakura. The mirrors were gone. Sakura felt her feet starting to hurt, so she took off her shoes to feel the cold tile below her.

She took a few more steps to see cherry blossoms petals falling into her field of vision. The danced around her like snowflakes, as she came in sight of a cherry blossom tree. A woman in a violet kimono with a butterfly-like obi was standing under it, her black hair blowing in the breeze that came from some world beyond theirs. It was Yuuko Ichihara.

"Miss Yuuko?" Sakura called out. Yuuko turned around to face her and smiled.

"It's good to see you, Sakura."

"Where am I?"

"A dream."

"A…dream?"

"It is an old one, being watched by a friendly spirit."

Yuuko reached around the tree and grabbed a person's hand. It was a woman, her eyes covered by a strange hat. Her outfit had strong elbows and covered her body modestly. Sakura couldn't describe it. It was otherworldly.

"This is DREAM," Yuuko stated. The woman bowed to Sakura, and Sakura bowed back.

"She guards this realm of dreams, and it is her duty to give people visions of what they want most as they sleep. She wanted to meet you, and thus she created a dream so that you may do so."

The woman nodded in agreement.

"You…want to be captured?" Sakura asked.

The woman nodded again and suddenly started to speak. However, she never opened her mouth. It was as if this woman's voice was inside Sakura's head.

"_We all do. Some of us have forgotten, but some of us remember. We desire freedom._"

"Wha…huh? Remember what? Freedom? Freedom from what?" Sakura stammered, not comprehending what this woman was saying.

"_You do not know yet, new and young Sakura, but soon, we shall all be free._"

Sakura continued to stare in bewilderment.

"_You must free us from ourselves, young Sakura. We are souls yearning for rest. We were not all spirits of Clow before now. I was once like you: a precognitive dreamer. A young witch. But alas, I am but a ghost, cursed with power given by my former master._"

"Wait…you…you were a person?"

"_Yes, young Sakura_."

"And I need to free you?"

"_Yes, but only once you've captured us all. Only then will your power awaken, and we will be free._"

Sakura began to slowly comprehend what this spirit wanted. However, she still didn't understand how this was possible, of if any of this was real. She noticed that the black in her dress was fading away and turning white.

"_I see you now have _him."

Sakura turned where the woman was looking and jumped. Syaoran was next to her. He was no longer wearing a suit but a white kimono. His eyes were blank.

"Li! Oh gosh, you scared me."

He didn't answer.

"Li?" Sakura enquired, as she waved a hand in front of his face.

"He is in his own dream now. Part of his soul is drifting in and out of this space," Yuuko explained.

"Is it because he's resonating with me?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Yuuko nodded, and Syaoran's sleeping form turned into a sword.

"_Thank you, young Sakura. As has been said before, by a girl who was once my master, I'm sure you'll be alright._"

With that, the woman turned into a golden soul before Sakura. She looked at Yuuko, perplexed.

"Do what you need to do," Yuuko told her, and she disappeared.

Sakura chanted her spell, with Syaoran's sword form in hand, and she woke up.

* * *

Sakura sat up, sweat beads on her temples, as she took a few deep breaths. She saw something light up in her lap, on top of the covers. When she looked down, a Clow Card was there. It was the strange woman from her dreams. Sakura wasn't sure how, but she and Syaoran caught a Clow spirit even in their sleep. It was labeled The DREAM.

_You must free us from ourselves, young Sakura_, the spirit had said. Sakura wasn't sure how, but Clow trapped innocent soul to do his bidding. Her task was to free them. Releasing them didn't seem plausible, as the spirits always went back into their card once a spell was finished. There was nothing in the book. Half of it was blank. She would have to ask Miss Yuuko, once she got back to school.

She looked outside. Dawn was breaking. She saw the pinks and oranges of an early sunrise. Since yesterday was Saturday, Sakura knew she could talk with Miss Yuuko tomorrow, on Monday.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Sakura?"

It was Syaoran.

"Come in."

He was clad in a white undershirt and some plaid pajama pants.

"I sense a spirit of Clow, somehow, and…"

He stopped and looked out the window of Sakura's room at the sun rising. He sat on the edge of the bed, both of them staring at the beauty ahead.

"I had an interesting dream," Sakura finally spoke.

Syaoran turned to her.

"It…got me a Clow Card," she shrugged, and she waved the card she had in her hand.

"You wha…?" Syaoran stammered, but then took the card and looked at the picture.

"This woman…"

"You saw her too, Li?"

"Yeah, she…was speaking in my mind…telling me to wake up. And then, you were there, in some…black dress…"

"It was a library. You were on a pile of books."

"Right. There was clacking. It was like…"

"… A dance?"

Syaoran's cheeks pinked.

"Yeah, well, I guess…the clacking was hypnotic for me, so the dream…kinda faded. I saw…a double of myself. Then he faded out. I saw the woman here, but the she was a golden light, and then she was gone."

"Sounds like we had the same dream, for the most part. Mine had a few more details, but…"

"Did she say anything to you?"

"Yeah, she said we needed to free the cards from themselves."

"What does that mean?"

"I think she was saying that these spirits are souls being held against their will, somehow. She told me to free them."

"How?"

"I don't know."

Syaoran scooted closer and sat next to his new meister.

"I'm going to ask Miss Yuuko on Monday. Maybe she'll know. She…_was_ in my dream, so…"

The sun rose, smiling perfect teeth and laughing towards the morning sky.

"You know, I just realized," Sakura said.

"What's that?" Syaoran asked.

"When you knocked on the door…you…"

Syaoran realized what she was talking about and his face went red.

"You called me by my first name!" his meister squealed, hugging him tightly.

"NO, wait…that was…I JUST…"

"No, it made me really happy! Can I call you Syaoran now?"

"Ye….Yeah, sure…"

"HOORAY!"

Sakura held him tighter, and they fell onto the mattress. However, realizing what she was doing, Sakura immediately let go. They lied on the mattress for a bit.

"Sorry, I forgot," Sakura apologized.

"S'okay…"

"We only have eight left."

"Yeah."

There was a calm silence. Syaoran looked over as Sakura was staring at him, an excited smile on her face. It felt surreal. He noticed how green her eyes were. He also noticed some longer hairs hanging in her face. He wanted to brush them aside, but…

"So, today's Sunday. Know what that means?" Sakura beamed.

Syaoran had no reply, but Sakura sat up.

"IT MEANS A BIG SUNDAY PANCAKE BREAKFAST!" she cheered, and Syaoran sat up, looking bewildered.

"I'm gonna go get started, if you come in soon and help me! We need some cut-up strawberries. I've got some _blueberries_ we can use in some of the pancakes. Oh! And scrambled eggs! Or maybe some omelets. And BACON! Definitely bacon. What do you think we should do for the eggs?"

Syaoran stared for a moment but soon answered.

"Um…I can…do omelets…."

"GREAT! I'll get the stuff out!"

She bolted out like a toddler on Christmas morning, in her pink sweatpants, with stars and moons on them. Syaoran slowly got up as he watched the energetic young lady fly through the fridge, grabbing eggs, berries, and an assortment of veggies and other goods. This must've been what she did with her family on Sunday mornings.

Syaoran wasn't used to this. His Sundays were usually trying to get Meiling up and eating a bowl of cereal before starting his homework. There was no _Sunday Pancake Breakfast_ or even cooking together. He wasn't used to a girl being so chipper and happy. Something drew him to her, and he wasn't sure why.

However, it seemed to be something he could get used to. The corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile, and he went into the kitchen to help make omelets and pancakes.


	18. Chapter 17: Spark

AN: Time passes. Spring and summer are now in session. Our kiddies will be fourteen. I should remember these poor kids' birthdays. Also, I am SO sorry I put a meme in here. I REGRET NOTHING. _Anyone who spots it will be given a cookie._

* * *

"You had a strange dream," Yuuko stated as Sakura entered her office. She was sipping coffee and held a strange, long pipe in the same hand that held her mug. She held a pencil in the other hand, which was marking papers on a desk.

"Yes…I…I wanted to talk to you about it," Sakura stammered, perplexed that Yuuko knew.

"I know what your dream was, dear Sakura. I was there."

"But…"

"You saw me there, didn't you?"

"Yes, but…"

"That was I."

"But, how…?"

"Because dreams are all connected."

Sakura sat in a chair that Yuuko motioned to.

"You're curious about how to free these spirits?"

"Yes."

"You must finish capturing the spirits of Clow first."

"But!"

Yuuko stopped her.

"The answers will come with the time is ready. You have blank pages in the Book of Clow, correct?"

Sakura nodded.

"When the time is right, those pages will no longer be blank. When that happens, I will tell you what you need to do."

Sakura looked at her knees, disappointed. Yuuko reached her hand out, taking her index finger and lifting Sakura's chin so that their gazes met.

"I am bound by these laws of time and space, my dear. I'm sorry I can't tell you more. Rest assured, I will tell you, Sakura."

Yuuko moved closer.

"Do you believe me?"

Sakura felt she understood what Yuuko was saying, but she didn't. Despite this growing fear, she decided to put her trust in this strange new teacher of hers. She nodded, and Yuuko smiled.

"Good."

Yuuko backed away, going back to her desk, and picking up her pipe. Sakura decided to get up from the chair. However, Yuuko stopped her.

"Is there anything else you're wondering?"

Sakura thought for a moment and then realized.

"What does 'precognitive' mean?"

Yuuko smiled.

"It's an adjective. It means 'before thought,' in it's literal context. It refers to things that can see the future."

"So…she was saying that I could have dreams that predict the future?"

"She was saying you already have the gift to predict the future through dreams."

Sakura stood still, about to fall into the chair.

"Don't fret over it too much, dear. It's an ability that comes naturally to people who have it, like yourself."

"So, when I have a dream like that…"

"…You'll know. Would you like a sip?"

Yuuko held out her mug of coffee.

"It's flavored with a gourmet creamer. I'm very particular."

Sakura took the mug and gave it a sip. It was sweet, sweeter than she imagined, since she wasn't a big coffee drinker.

"It's good! What is it?" Sakura asked.

"It's coconut flavored creamer," Yuuko answered with a grin, "I found it here, and I've immediately taken a liking to it."

Sakura handed Yuuko her mug back.

"A good drink is good for the soul and clears a busy head. Take care of yourself, Sakura."

Sakura smiled and nodded. With a wave, she turned around and ran off to class. Yuuko set her mug down, taking an inhale of her pipe.

"Soon, your powers will grow. I only hope that in doing so, you won't go mad. Soon, Sakura, I will be able to grant your wish."

* * *

Time passed into spring. Sakura turned fourteen on April 1st. The rest of the group followed suit. First was Meiling, on June 28th. Syaoran celebrated with the group on July 13th. Tomoyo celebrated hers when her mother came into town, on September 3rd. Strangely, the spirits of Clow, even Clow Reed himself, didn't appear for a while. Not until August.

A wild, big cat made purely of lightening appeared. Its rampage caused an electrical storm throughout Death City. Unlike make other spirits, Sakura couldn't get close to it. Holding Syaoran was like holding a giant lightening rod.

So, Tomoyo came up with a solution. She got various pieces of rubber fabric and began sewing.

Sakura sat at Meiling and Tomoyo's apartment, looking over in curiosity.

"What are you doing, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.

"I'm making us all rubber suits, of course!" Tomoyo chirped happily as she tied a knot in the thread. She cut it quickly and held up a very shiny-looking black and pink skirt.

"Yeah, but…if you're making a skirt…"

"Oh, this is going to be yours!"

"Well, I can tell by the pink, but…"

"Sakura, trust me. It's going to look fabulous on you!"

"YOU SAID YOU COULD SEW QUICKLY!" Meiling cried, already in her fighting garments.

"I am! I just want this to be perfect!"

Tomoyo was already sewing the bodice to the skirt. Sakura looked on the table to see a round bell attached to a pink bow and a pair of black cat ears.

"What are…."

"Oh, don't worry. Those are part of your costume too."

"COSTUME?!" Meiling huffed in, "THIS ISN'T HALLOWEEN, TOMOYO! WE JUST NEED A RUBBER JUMPSUIT!"

"Oh, but that wouldn't be nearly cute enough."

Syaoran came in with a plate of food to see that Sakura and Meiling were collapsed on the floor in defeat. Tomoyo was cheerfully humming a tune while sewing the bow onto the outfit.

"ALL DONE!" she cheered, "Alright, Sakura, put this on. I need to work on Li's matching outfit."

"Matching?" Syaoran frowned as he stared at the shiny black and pink tutu suit that Tomoyo was holding. Sakura slowly got up and went off to go change.

* * *

"Who puts a bell on a costume like that?!" Meiling hissed.

"It's not a real bell, Meiling," Tomoyo pouted, "It's plastic. I made it."

"Yeah. Great. Put time into all of this flashy stuff and WE DON'T HAVE ANY RUBBER GEAR ON!"

"You were the one telling us to get out the door because the spirit was coming."

Meiling's face was steaming, her cheeks red with anger.

"And now, Syaoran's cooking's going to get cold! Tsk tsk."

"I CANNOT BE_LIEVE_ WHERE YOUR PRIORITIES ARE!"

"It's…It's fine," Syaoran tried easing Meiling, "I can easily heat it up later."

Sakura only stayed in front of them, crouched to the ground. She had on everything, from the poufy skirt to the big pink bow and cat ears. All of it was rubber. There were sleeves and legging pieces that were all black. Her shoes were some sort of variation of 1900s button-up shoes.

While it was all rubber, it wasn't uncomfortable. Thankfully, Tomoyo thought ahead, making a comfortable shirt and pant set that fit snuggly underneath all of the fabric. Sadly, with it being summer, Sakura felt like she was in a sauna. Her face was beet red out of pure heat build-up.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura hissed at her comrades to get over to where she was crouching. They ceased their arguments and huddled over. Over the edge of the roof they were on, the electrical creature was crunching down on some metal trashcans, as if they were rawhides or bones.

Tomoyo couldn't help be squeal to herself, and she got out a camcorder.

"The hell did that come from?" Meiling spun around to look at her new weapon in horror.

"I've always had this camera," Tomoyo shrugged as she recorded the giant cat playing with the trashcans.

"Well, maybe you can do this sort of shit _later_!"

"You are really in a mood, tonight! I came out here to have a good time, and I'm _honestly _feeling very attacked right now."

"OH MY GOD, REALLY?!"

The creature stopped playing with the trashcans and looked at the arguing group.

"Ummm…guys?" Sakura pointed.

Syaoran transformed immediately.

"Seriously, the priority you put on this capturing cards thing is astounding," Meiling groaned.

"Do you think I _want_ to collect these spirits?! I'm some tool for Clow Reed! I don't want to do any of that!"

"Then what the HELL are we here for?!"

"We're here to make sure they have help!"

"Oh, well, we're doing a bang-up jo—"

"DUCK!"

Sakura grabbed them as they fell off the roof. The electrical creature jumped towards them and landed on the roof where they originally stood.

"WINDY!" Sakura shouted.

The team was now safely on the ground with the torn-up trashcans. Tomoyo immediately transformed. The sealing wand was not in Meiling's grasp.

"Seriously, Tomoyo, try to stay focused, okay?"

"Meiling, I _was_ focused!"

"No, you weren't!"

"I would've been more focused if you didn't start arguing with me about my camcorder!"

"AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?!"

"Guys, can we fight about this later?" Sakura pleaded. The creature seemed ready to challenge them.

Sakura began running. Meiling followed suit. This probably wasn't the best solution, as the creature began to chase them.

"What do we do?" Syaoran echoed from the blade of his weapon form.

"We need to trap him in the open, somehow, but I don't know what to use!"

Meiling ran over to a tree on the side of the road they were on, and the creature shout lightening from its mouth at them. It hit the tree, only to catch the large perennial plant on fire. The foliage began to fall, to which Tomoyo transformed back into a human, shielding Meiling from the flames that fell.

"TOMOYO!" Sakura cried, as she ran over to them. Syaoran changed into his human form, grabbing a piece of spell paper.

"SPIRITS OF FIRE, ANSWER MY CALL!"

Flames appeared, but instead of creating more, Syaoran inhaled the fiery inferno surrounding the two girls, and the large branch on top of them only gave off smoke. Syaoran then breathed the fire towards the lightening creature, scaring it off for a short moment.

"Are you guys alright?" Sakura cried, tending to the girls. Their clothes were singed, and ashes and small burns were visible on their skin. Thankfully, they were okay for the moment. The creature rounded towards them again, now enraged. It spat a spark of lighting towards them. This time, Syaoran shielded them, pushing Sakura out of the way.

The lightening struck him in the back, electrical currents flowing through his body. He fell to the ground convulsing from the shock waves.

"SYAORAN!" Sakura and Meiling screamed.

"Li!" Tomoyo cried. They only got shocked when they touched him.

The creature fired a spark again. This time, it was at Sakura. Before anyone could react, Sakura shielded her face, bracing for the attack.

It hit her, and she fell to the ground. However, she didn't start having convulsions. Her rubber costume showed visible signs of static, as she got up and touched the tree. There was a small spark, but it only hurt Sakura for a brief moment before all of the shock from the suit absorbed into the tree.

With this, Sakura thought up an idea.

"Tomoyo, what else is a conductor besides rubber and plastic?!"

Tomoyo jumped in surprise, but then she thought for a moment.

"Oh…well, there's wood—"

The idea hit Tomoyo too. Sakura reached out her hand and Tomoyo transformed as her weapon partner once more. With the sealing wand in hand, Sakura grabbed the card she wanted and cast her spell.

"_Cage this creature in its place. Let it meet your warm embrace! WOOD!_"

The WOOD created a cage around the creature. As it tried to spark at the branches, it only slowly set the wood aflame. Quickly, the sealing wand turned into a scythe. With a jump and a slash, Sakura cut through the electric creature and it's woodland prison. The WOOD returned to its card, and the creature was now a golden bauble that sparked before them. They returned it to the form it was meant to be, and the picture of the electric lion creature appeared on the blank card. It's name read, strangely, The THUNDER.

"My, my," Tomoyo shook her head, "You would think a powerful sorcerer would get his use of words correctly."

Sakura ran over to Meiling and a lightening-stricken Syaoran.

"I'm…f-f-f-f-fine…" he stuttered.

"NO YOU AREN'T!" Meiling cried, her eyes filled with tears, "WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP FOR A SEC?!"

Sakura's eyes shifted back and forth in a panic. She looked at The THUNDER, her brows furrowing into creases on her forehead. She took out The WOOD.

"I'm sorry for getting you caught on fire," she told the spirit, "You did great."

There was a noise that sounded like bells ringing, as the card floated out of Sakura's grasp and back into it again. She smiled and put the card away.

"Hello, THUNDER," she told the spirit sternly. There was a soft roaring noise that responded.

"You did a terrible thing to my partner _and_ my friend. You need to apologize."

There was a louder roar in protest.

"I know he scared you with fire, but you nearly killed my friends!"

The roars were softer and sadder now. Meiling and Tomoyo only stared, perplexed.

"If you do this spell with me, I _might _be able to forgive you. Fair?"

There was a soft roar in response.

"Good."

Sakura put the card to her lips and then touched the top edge onto Syaoran's hand.

"_Oh Beast of Thunder and Lightening, heal my friend. Absorb your power from this vessel, and make him whole again._"

An electrical current escaped from Syaoran's arm and into the long, rectangular piece of cardboard and plastic. When the sparks ceased, Sakura lifted the card from Syaoran's arm, and he was no longer shaking.

"Thank you, THUNDER," Sakura smiled, and a soft purr called back to her as she put the card away.

Syaoran's head rested peacefully in Meiling lap, as she began weeping. Sakura seemed concerned, as did Tomoyo.

"I…hate this," Meiling sobbed.

Tomoyo took a handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to her.

"What do you hate, Meiling?" Tomoyo asked sincerely.

"I HATE BEING THE HUMAN HERE!"

Everyone fell silent.

"I CAN'T DO ANYTHING! I CAN'T DO SPELLS, OR TURN INTO STUFF, OR EVEN COOK FOR GOD'S SAKE! I CAN'T EVEN PROTECT MY COUSIN ANYMORE! I JUST SIT HERE AND WATCH HIM GROW AND SUFFER, AND I'M NO DIFFERENT FROM HOW I EVEN STARTED! I GO MAKE ONE PARTNER UPSET, AND HERE I AM ARGUING WITH MY NEW PARTNER! I HATE THIS! I HATE MYSELF! I…AAAAUUUGGHHHH…."

Meiling collapsed her face into her hands, covering it with the handkerchief. No one knew what to say until Syaoran got up off of Meiling's lap and sat up. She looked up at her cousin, who was looking at her with sadness in his eyes.

To everyone's surprise, Syaoran hugged her. Meiling didn't really hug him back at first. She just sat there stunned.

"Thank you…for being here for me, Meiling," he told her, "You've always been there. And, I can promise you, that's been better than…any magic or…weapon ability anyone else can have. You're the closest family to me. That's more than enough."

Meiling began sobbing into Syaoran's shoulder. Sakura and Tomoyo rested a hand on both of Meiling's shoulders as she let out more tears. When she finished crying, they got up and started walking home.

"I hate getting into these moods…" Meiling mumbled, sneezing into Tomoyo's handkerchief.

"Let's go back to our place and heat up Syaoran's cooking," Tomoyo suggested, "It can be a little sleepover!"

"Will we even be able to do that?" Sakura thought aloud.

"Well, we have some extra pillows and blankets, and I can fit two people on _my_ bed, if we need to," Tomoyo added.

"Oh I see," Meiling muttered.

"What?"

"You're luring your girl crush over here, aren't you?" Meiling pointed to Sakura, who blushed at the implication.

"Oh no, no! I would never," Tomoyo waved off, "No, we've slept in the same bed, but I wasn't suggesting that for Sakura and I…"

"Alright…" Meiling wasn't convinced, but she continued listening.

"I was thinking more for…Syaoran over there, as he lures Sakura into his clutches."

Sakura only looked confused, but Syaoran was a red, stammering mess.

"THAT'S…NO! THAT'S NOT—" Syaoran began.

"Or maybe," Tomoyo interrupted, leaning over to Meiling, "I could snag _you_ into my room for the night!"

Meiling turned beet red and started blubbering out an answer.

"Just kidding!" Tomoyo winked, wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive yet teasing manner. She ran off laughing as a now flustered and angry Meiling chased her down the street. Sakura giggled as the red cooled down in Syaoran's face.

"Tomoyo's become much more of a joker lately!" she said.

"Was she not always like that?" Syaoran asked.

"Well, only a little, but she's become more mischievous, I guess, after…she confessed to me."

"Maybe she's becoming more comfortable around other people."

"I think that's close, but not exact. I think she's…just showing a new side of herself she didn't want people to see. She's always been very mature and calm. It's…nice seeing her be more carefree in one way or another."

Sakura smiled to herself, and Syaoran stared at her, trying to guess what she was thinking. He wasn't sure if she liked Tomoyo in a different way, but he got more of an impression of how close of friends they were.

"Although…" Sakura continued after a long pause, "I wonder why Tomoyo thought you were trying to 'lure me into your clutches' or something."

Even though Sakura giggled, Syaoran turned red all over again.

"Why _would_ she think that, I wonder?" Sakura asked herself out loud.

"I don't know…" he answered honestly. He really wasn't sure. He only saw this girl as a friend, as a partner in crime. He only found her cute because of hormones. It was all brain chemicals. At least, that's what he kept telling himself for the longest time.

* * *

Sakura and Tomoyo ended up sharing the bed, and Syaoran got the couch. While it wasn't as nice as his bed, he made due. After a hectic day, he drifted into a deep sleep.

While he didn't dream very often, he did have the repeated dream of meeting his doppelganger with the blue right eye. This one, however, was different.

There was checkerboard tile on the floor. He sat in a leather recliner with a record player next to him and a book in his hand. He wore a black pinstripe suit with a red dress shirt and a black tie.

This didn't feel like a world that fit him very well until he looked up. He saw the library. It was bigger this time, with books strewn all over the floor. The record played a jazz tune he wasn't familiar with.

"You like books, don't you?" a voice whispered next to him.

He jumped to see his doppelganger next to him, wearing a matching pinstripe suit. Even in the warm, dim lighting, Syaoran could still see the copy's ice blue eye.

"What is that?" Syaoran asked with confusion.

"A scrap," his copy answered.

"Scrap?"

"A scrap space left over from some other guy's mind. It's been…tidied up to fit what your mind's like."

Syaoran looked around, still sitting in the chair. Then, the doppelganger got too close for comfort in Syaoran's face. His hands leaned on the arms of the recliner as he tilted forward. Syaoran tried to absorb his back into the back of the chair to no avail.

"How is she?"

Syaoran raised an eyebrow.

"The princess…"

"The who?"

"Your meister, as your world calls it."

"Oh…well…she's okay, I guess."

"You need to give me better answers than that. Does she remember anything?"

"Remember?"

"Remember me…and you…us…"

Syaoran pushed him away. This guy's breath smelled like coal fumes from a furnace fire.

"You're part of my brain, right? So…don't make up bullshit like lost memories or some crap."

"Oh, but you _don't_ remember."

"Remember what?"

"Me."

"No, I don't know you. But, I'm guessing that you're…me?"

"I am yet I'm not."

"You're…not me…"

"But I also am you."

"So you _are_ me."

"But not."

"No?"

"Yes."

"…"

"And no."

Syaoran put his face into his hands.

"Please just…tell me who you are."

"I just did."

"In SIMPLER terms, please."

"I don't know what could possibly be more simple."

Syaoran grimaced, and the doppelganger cleared his throat.

"I am you…from a past existence."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow.

"I'm afraid that's the best answer I can give you."

Syaoran could feel the front of his head throbbing. The copy walked behind the chair and handed Syaoran a book. It had the picture of a cherry blossom cutout on it.

"What is…"

"It's what the princess dreams."

Syaoran looked at it with distrust, but opened it. Winds swirled around him as he stood up and the library around him vanished, leaving only darkness.

There was Tomoyo, in a pool of blood. Sakura was in tears, her chest forming a gaping wound and bleeding. Maka Albarn-Evans caught her. A hooded man with a golden scythe raised his blade. Syaoran saw a sun symbol on the rod. It looked like Clow Reed's staff.

The sun.

The blade came down and hacked into his right eye. The pain was so sharp and so real that Syaoran woke in an instant. He didn't know why, but his hand was over his eye, and it was throbbing.

He didn't want to go back to sleep.


	19. Chapter 18: Forget

AN: Since we're down to the more powerful cards, the time is getting close. I take no credit for the song used in this. It's a traditional Japanese folk song. Syaoran needs to see a doctor about that eye of his.

* * *

"There appears to be no damage. It's just shock from that dream you had."

The school's doctor took the light away from Syaoran's right eye as a woman in back and gold with an eye patch came over. She whipped her golden hair away from her face and handed Syaoran a sheet of paper.

"Here's your slip to give you your teacher," she smiled. She turned over her shoulder to see a small child fishing through a jar of lollipops.

"IZZY, NO! THOSE ARE FOR PATIENTS!" she wailed, taking the jar away from the small girl. She had golden hair and gray eyes. There was a stitch mark at the bottom of her neck and a small one on her face. The doctor noticed Syaoran staring at them.

"The one on her make was from tonsils. The cheek one was from an earlier age, when I was…curious."

Syaoran looked at the doctor horrified.

"Oh don't worry. I would never dream of intentionally hurting my little girl," the doctor assured, "I just…have a habit of experimenting. I have gotten better, haven't I, Marie?"

He turned to the woman with the eyepatch and the little girl sitting in her lap.

"You have, Frank," she nodded, "These scars aren't as bad as they are on Stella. You cut her open like a frog!"

"Ah, yes, our first daughter…" the doctor looked up fondly, "She likes showing it to her friends now. She also has a very curious eye for science…like me."

The doctor looked at a now frightened Syaoran through his large, round spectacles. The young weapon noticed a large stitch scar going across his face, his eyes drowsy and grey.

"Sorry. You can go ahead and leave. You're fine."

Syaoran got off the check up table.

"How long have you been here, son?" the doctor asked.

"Since…last September…" Syaoran answered quietly.

"Funny…I thought I would've seen you. … Your meister now is the cute girl with the short hair and the green eyes, right?"

Syaoran didn't answer. He just glared suspiciously at the doctor.

"I'll take that protective stare as a yes. Take care of yourself as you do with her, okay?"

Syaoran relaxed a little but raced out of the office. The doctor took out a piece of gum and started to chew.

"Are you okay?" Marie asked, little Izzy hugging her tightly.

"There's a madness building in that boy, like Sakura's previous partner," he answered.

"The girl in the cell with the dark hair?"

"Yes. His isn't as prominent as hers. It's going to build over time. I just hope he finds some solace in that girl."

"His meister, right? I've met her. She's a sweet girl."

"Is she?"

"Yes. Her wavelength gives off that calming sensation."

"An anti-demon wavelength…just as Maka described to me. Interesting."

His back made a small crack in it. He cursed under his breath so his daughter couldn't hear. He grabbed the large screw on the side of his head and began to twist. His spine slowly straightened with every twist. As he cracked his back and sighed, he sat down in his rolling chair, his leg twitching.

"You want to smoke, don't you?" Marie smirked.

"The gum helps. I don't wanna do it around the kids. Not good for those fresh lungs, you know."

The two smiled at each other, and the doctor took the clipboard from his desk.

"Stein, you've got a broken arm in the next room," Nygus called as she walked swiftly into the doctor's office. He sighed and spat out the gum.

"Here," Marie handed her husband a lollipop. Stein smiled and took it, popping the red hard candy in his mouth.

"NOT FOR YOU, STEIN! THE PATIENT!"

Izzy giggled as her mad scientist and doctor of a father trotted happily away.

* * *

Syaoran's eye stopped throbbing soon after. He focused on the main objective. Capturing whatever this hooded figure was in from of Sakura and him.

It transformed into shadows and scattered around in the darkness again. Sakura was getting frustrated. She adjusted her costume, one that Tomoyo made herself. It was another poufy number, and thankfully not in rubber: puffed up bloomer shorts, a heart-themed bodice that overlapped on top of it, a headband with two large hearts on the side. All of it was pink and white, which were Sakura's favorite colors. It was much lighter and easier to run in, thankfully. Sakura didn't even want to know how Tomoyo managed finding matching shoes for the ridiculous thing.

"We need a more open space," Sakura thought out loud.

"Yeah…" Syaoran agreed.

Using JUMP, she hopped her way to a large cul-de-sac, surrounded in street lamps.

"I'm going to try THUNDER again," Sakura told her partner, pulling a card out of her pocket. Sakura was thrilled with this addition to the outfit. Calling out THUNDER, the beast struck all of the street lamps, making them blindingly bright. The shadows came out again, forming themselves into the shadowy figure from before.

"_SWORD!_"

Instead of changing her weapon, which was moot in any case, the spirit only wrapped itself around the silver blade of Syaoran's sword form. He felt almost sharper and newer than beforehand. Sakura stabbed the hooded figure, trapping it. When Sakura released her blade, The SWORD took it's place, keeping the hooded figure where it was. With this, Sakura was able to reap and capture The SHADOW. The SWORD returned to its card, and Syaoran returned to his human formed.

"IT WORKED!" Sakura cheered.

"Yeah, … but what made you think of that idea?" Syaoran questioned.

"I dunno…" Sakura admitted, "I just followed my intuition, I suppose. Although…it was more like…a voice in the back of my head rather than a gut feeling."

Syaoran looked concerned.

"It's strange," Sakura went on, "It sounded a lot like my own voice."

Syaoran thought back to the doppelganger from his dreams.

"Well…whatever," Sakura shrugged, "It's no big deal. Let's go home."

* * *

It was a strange sensation. There were silk sheets and dim lights, sparks flying through every nerve of her body. She felt a warm, soft body on top of hers. She couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but it felt right. It felt safe.

There was a pulse in her abdomen. She felt the sparks in her nerves setting her whole body ablaze. She was going over the edge.

Sakura awoke very frustrated and confused.

* * *

"Hello!"

A few days later, a girl greeted Touya at the front of his apartment building. She was ten. Her hair was short and auburn, and her eyes were green. She wore a Tomoeda elementary school uniform: a black and white sailor fuku with a red stripe accent on the tie and the sailor collar. She had the white hat on as well.

Touya stared, horrified, at this spitting image of his sister when she was ten years old.

"Who the hell are you?" he choked. The girl frowned, looking hurt.

"Don't you remember me? I'm the spirit…from the forest? I…look like your sister, right?"

"My sister is fourteen, and there's not a forest anywhere here. What the hell are you talking about?"

"She was sick…and snuck out. You took care of me in her place, but you knew…you knew I wasn't her. You recognized me…"

"I don't know what you're going on about, but I don't know you," Touya growled.

"I've…upset you, somehow…oh, right. It's because I look like your sister, isn't it? Don't worry. She's not dead. She's fine!"

"What do you mean? What have you done with my sister?!"

The girl looked like she was in pain now. She slumped her head down and started to cry.

"What did you do?" Touya repeated, "Where's my sister?"

"He said you'd remember," she sobbed, "He promised you would remember. He lied…no…he lied to me!"

Touya took the girl by the shoulders.

"Who's he?! What's going on here?!"

"**HE LIED TO ME!**"

The girl's disguise melted away. She glowed a blue-greenish light and became a sort of shrine maiden spirit with long hair. A mirror hung around her neck. She started to float, and she grabbed Touya by his shirt collar.

"**WHY DON'T YOU REMEMBER ME?! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER ME!**"

"BIG BROTHER!" Sakura shouted, and she leaped into the air, grabbing Touya and bringing him to the ground.

"**GIVE HIM BACK! I NEED HIM TO REMEMBER! GIVE HIM BACK!**"

Sakura got up and stood in front of her brother protectively. The glowing girl gasped as she saw Sakura's face.

"**My….MY…MY MASTER…**" she choked, and she floated down to meet Sakura directly. Sakura looked confused.

"**Surely you must remember! You were there! You were angry for me hurting your brother! You made me a copy of yourself and snuck out when you were sick! You sensed Clow Reed…before he came here!**"

Sakura shook her head, perplexed. The girl looked horrified.

"**You…don't remember? Tomoeda? The Clow Cards? Nothing?**"

"I…don't know what you're talking about," Sakura admitted, "Tomoeda…The spirits of Clow haven't been to Tomoeda. Unless…"

"**Yes? Yes, when you were ten?**"

"When I was ten…" Sakura shook her head once more, "I was just…going to school like normal. There…were no spirits of Clow. Or Clow Cards…"

At this, the girl began to wail. She collapsed to the ground in a fit of tears.

"Oh no…please don't cry!" Sakura pleaded, "It's alright."

"**YOU DON'T REMEMBER US! HOW CAN YOU SET US FREE IF YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER US?! WE'RE DOOMED! I'M GOING TO WALLOW IN THIS FORM FOREVER!**"

The girl looked at Touya. Her eyes filled with more tears.

"**I CAN'T EVEN LOVE LIKE THIS! I CAN'T GO ON! NO! ****_NOOOOOO!_**"

She began grow shards of mirrors out of her body. Her body bled a black-like substance as more shards grew. She encased herself in these shards until all that could be seen was broken reflections of Sakura, Syaoran in his weapon form, and Touya. Black ooze leaked through the cracks. When Sakura tried to get close, one of the shards cut her.

"**NOOOOO! MASTER CLOW! PLEASE, IT HURTS! MAKE IT STOP! THE BLACK BLOOD! IT'S HURTING ME! NOO! STOP!**"

Sakura started to tear up as she used The SWORD as she did before, strengthening Syaoran's blade so as to cut through anything. She wanted to cut through to this poor girl She wanted to cut away her suffering.

"**PLEASE SAVE ME! GOD, I CAN'T STOP THE BLEEDING! IT HURTS! SAKURA! MY MASTER! PLEASE, WHERE ARE YOU?! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME ALL ALONE LIKE THIS?! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!**"

Sakura sliced through the shards, and they scattered everywhere. The girl was lying on the shards that were left, some of them coming through her stomach and limbs. She was crying the black ooze now, what this girl called _black blood_.

Sakura stepped closer and raised her weapon above her head. The girl continued to weep as she opened her eyes. Sakura was now crying. She brought her sword down.

"Sakura?" Syaoran's voice echoed, "Are you okay?"

"I can't do it," she whimpered, "She looks so miserable. I don't want her memory to be…this…before I reap her."

"She's still a spirit of Clow," Syaoran told her gently.

"I know. I just…want her to be at peace somehow."

Sakura wiped her face, small cuts from the mirror shards stinging her arms. She pulled a card out of her leather holster, which now hung on her waist.

"_SONG, give this spirit a melody from her memories._"

A young woman spirit appeared, her ears covered by pieces that looked like treble clefs. A sweet violin began to play out of nowhere. A soft, Oriental-like piece began to play, and the spirit began to sing.

"_Sakura sakura / noyama mo sato mo / mi-watasu kagiri / kasumi ka kumo ka / asahi ni niou / sakura sakura / hana zakari…_"

Tears of black blood still flowed from the girl's eyes, but she was now smiling. The SONG rested her hand on the girl's head, stroking her hair. The girl shut her eyes as the singing continued.

"_Sakura sakura / yayoi no sora wa / mi-watasu kagiri / kasumi ka kumo ka / nioi zo izuru / izaya izaya / mini yukan._"

The girl turned gold and swirled around until she was a golden soul, ready to be sealed away. The SONG took the soul and brought it over to Sakura before returning to its card. Sakura sealed the spirit, and a beautiful picture of the young girl appeared on the card. Her title read The MIRROR.

Syaoran returned to his human form and checked Sakura's arms. They were slightly bleeding. Touya smacked him away.

"Kiddo, you okay?" he asked.

"I'm alright," she sighed, "I'm glad she's more at peace now."

"Seems to me you're caring about these things like they're people."

"I know they're spirits, but they _used_ to be people. I got that strong impression especially from her."

"What was that song?" Syaoran asked.

"It's a traditional Japanese folk song, I think. I remember learning it a little in my elementary music classes."

"What was she talking about anyways? About you or your brother not remember her?"

"I…don't know. I feel kinda bad though."

Sakura tapped the edge of the card to her lips, trying to think. Then, her brother ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. Whatever's going on, that spirit girl's gotta figure out herself. Right now, let's get you some first aid."

Sakura nodded. She got up, and all three of them went into Touya's apartment building. Two young, dark-haired girls followed them in. When Sakura turned around, she saw it was Tomoyo and Meiling.

"Oh good, you're here!" Sakura chirped.

"Yep," Tomoyo grinned, "And I got it all on video!"

Sakura nearly fell over.

"Of all the captures to tape, THIS is the one you got in full?" Meiling said, shaking her head.

"Well, I mostly got the song bit. It was just lovely!"

Tomoyo showed them the footage as Syaoran bandaged Sakura up with the first-aid kit, much to Touya's annoyance. To Tomoyo's dismay, it didn't capture the sound.

* * *

Sakura was having her dream again: Tomoyo in a pool of blood, a gaping hole in her own chest, Mrs. Albarn-Evans holding her tightly as the golden scythe came down upon them.

Then, something changed. Sakura opened her eyes to see a figure in a pink and purple dress…or maybe it was a kimono. The figure had stopped the golden scythe with her hand, as if time stood still. Her hair looked exactly like Sakura's from the back.

With one swift movement, the hooded figure no longer had the scythe in his hands, and it was now in the mysterious woman's hands instead.

"This is not your weapon to command," she said, and the hooded figure finally began to take off his hood.

It was a man, with deep blue eyes and small, circular spectacles. His hair was long, and was slicked back in a ponytail that lay limp on his right shoulder. His black cloak began showing an astrological design, with dark blues, oranges and yellows. He had a gentle smile on his face.

"We meet again," he said to the woman in front of him.

"It's been a while, Clow Reed," she replied.

"You've become quite the magician."

"The most powerful magician in the world, as you put it."

"You're breaking the rules now, aren't you? It's fascinating, isn't it? To play with the fabric of space and time."

"I need a wish granted, and it involves getting rid of you."

"Oh my! Whatever do you mean?"

"I'll never forgive you for what you've done."

"I've done nothing wrong."

"YOU'VE PLAYED A GOD! YOU'VE TOYED WITH PEOPLE'S LIVES! _MY _LIFE!"

"I was only fulfilling my wish."

"AND NOW PEOPLE ARE DEAD! THEY'RE ALL DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! EVEN…"

"Even your most precious person? Is that it? You're going to blame his death on me?"

The woman looked away, gritting her teeth. Then she softened her gaze, turning it to Sakura, whose jaw nearly dropped when she saw the woman's face.

It was a spitting image of Sakura as an adult. The auburn hair, the green eyes…everything. Her gaze was sad as she looked at the young meister. She then looked at a bleeding Tomoyo and knelt down beside her.

"Both of them: My most…precious person, and…my dear friend. I won't let you do that here," she addressed Clow Reed. He only chuckled.

"The only reason these children die is because of _your_ selfish wish to get rid of me!"

"You were coming here, whether I made that wish or not!" she shouted, "You're the result of _that man's_ sins!"

"He was a failure to me."

"It won't matter, once you're gone! KERO!"

The golden scythe began to morph into a new shape. Before Sakura could see what it was, the light blinded her and she woke up.


	20. Chapter 19: Inferno

AN: I'm on a roll. We're so close, you guys. Let's see if we can finish this card catching game and then get to some meta stuff. I do like me some meta. Shameless fanservice works too.

* - I don't think this counts as good use of the English language

* * *

Kero was sitting with a big piece of cheesecake in front of him. He was taking it all in. Sakura had told him that her dream had changed. He wasn't sure what to make of it. On one hand, it could be a good thing. Sakura had five souls left to capture, and the changes could be reflecting on the rewards of her success.

He was hoping that Tomoyo dying and Sakura with a chest wound would be the things that changed as Sakura collected more cards. However, those things stayed the same. He didn't know what the existence of another Sakura could mean. He didn't know why he was the golden scythe in her dream. He was sure he didn't have that ability.

"What are you thinking, Kero-chan?" Sakura asked, as she took a bite of her own piece of cheesecake. It was a gourmet one, with caramel swirl and a toffee flavor to it. Sakura had taken her allowance and gone to the new Cheesecake Factory in Death City.

"I don't know," Kero answered, shaking his head, "I'll have to think over it more."

He finally picked up the fork that was much too big for him and took a bite of cheesecake. His thoughts settled, and he enjoyed the decadent pastry.

"We've got five cards left, don't we?" Sakura added.

"That ya' do! We need FIREY, EARTHY, DARK, LIGHT, and um…VOID."

I'm so excited! Aren't _you_, Syaoran?"

Syaoran walked into the living room and joined the small huddle with his own piece of cheesecake. He nodded in reply, and Sakura smiled.

"I still can't believe her partner is now _you_," Kero grumbled, taking another bite of cheesecake. Syaoran only glared at him.

"Don't you start, Kero," Sakura huffed, "It'll be temporary, and then Tomoyo will be back in the dorm. You'll see!"

Syaoran looked down at his plate. Sakura noticed the sad look on his face.

"Oh no! No, it's not that I'm trying to kick you out or anything! I'm sorry, Syaoran! No, you're a great roommate. Really."

"Thanks," he smiled slightly. He felt confused. For some reason, the idea of leaving the apartment made him sad. It wasn't like he was particularly close to her, but somehow the idea of being away from her seemed…wrong.

Sakura was fidgeting. She was trying to find words to make Syaoran feel better but failing miserably. When he noticed, he sighed.

"It's not you, Sakura. It's…um…you're a…great roommate as well."

Sakura perked up and giggled a little. The awkward aura in the air dissipated. Kero merely frowned.

"Ugh…I'm taking my cheesecake away from this lovey dovey bologna."

He picked up his plate and fork, hoisting it over his head like a holy offering, and flew into the kitchen.

"Why does everyone keep assuming that?" Sakura wondered aloud. Syaoran rest his head against one of his hands and let out a sigh.

"I mean, just because we're a boy and a girl doesn't mean we can't just be friends, right?" she added. She turned to Syaoran, who had a piece of cheesecake in his mouth.

"Rieph," he agreed, mouth still full of cake. Sakura giggled. Syaoran swallowed and blushed bright red.

* * *

It all happened so quickly.

The earth started shaking during class. A ball of fire spat through the air. Death City was about to become a hellish, crumbled mass.

People were screaming and trying to find cover as cracks formed in the streets. The earth moved up, twisting and turning, until it was a large rock-like serpent.

Classes at the DWMA were already filing for the earthquake drill. Maka pulled Sakura and Syaoran aside.

"You two need to go, right?" she said.

The two kids nodded. They sensed two spirits of Clow.

Maka nodded and let the two kids run off. A crack formed in one of the windows, ready to break. Syaoran busted it with a blade arm, and the two jumped out.

"FLY!"

Syaoran's sword form suddenly grew wings. Sakura grabbed him, as they awkwardly flew through the air. Sakura had to hold the shaft of the sword with both hands.

"Syaoran, this isn't working!" Sakura cried, "Can't you morph into something I can stand or sit on?"

"What about that spell transforms metal things?" he suggested, "Like what you do with Tomoyo?"

"Oh yeah! Silly me. Good idea!"

As she started the spell, her hands began to slip. They were floating over a fiery pit. Sakura felt like her heart was coming out of her throat.

Her hands slipped from the grip.

"AAAIIEEE!"

A hand grabbed hers. The hilt of the sword awkwardly flapping its wings was now Syaoran's arm.

"It's okay! I got you! Keep chanting!"

Sakura continued the spell as their hands were now starting to slip. Syaoran wanted to morph out another hand but somehow couldn't.

When Sakura finished, Syaoran's hand disappeared and the sword was now a green and silver scythe. They fell down towards the rocks below. Before Sakura could cast a spell with The FLY once more, Syaoran was a human again, and he grabbed her, ready to break her fall.

"Syaoran!"

As Sakura closed her eyes, something or someone caught them, and they were no longer falling. Sakura opened her eyes. Syaoran was still holding her for dear life. A young man in a black cloak now held both of them, as he floated on his skateboard.

"I was enjoying the hilarious display but thought you could use assistance."

"Lord DEATH?!" the pair said together.

"And Liz," echoed one voice.

"And PATTI!" echoed another.

Liz and Patti Thompson sat in holsters on Lord Death's hips.

"Syaoran, why the HECK did you do that?" Sakura scolded, with Syaoran still holding onto her, "I was about to cast FLY!"

"I…I have a duty to protect my meister," he answer firmly. At this, Sakura's cheeks turned pink.

"Y…you could've done that after I…" Sakura grumbled, her cheeks now red. Patti started giggling.

"Perhaps, you should cast your spell again now that you're stable?" Kid suggested. Sakura nodded, and Syaoran turned into a sword once more. She cast the spell again, and Syaoran was now a dark green and silver scythe.

"Wow!" muttered Liz.

"SO COOL!" Patti squealed.

"FLY!" Sakura shouted, and they were off.

Syaoran felt strange in his new form, but adjusted quickly. His vision was strange. He looked ahead: nothing but clouds and the city below. Below, the ground was crumbling. Above…

"Are you alright, SakurAAAGHH OH GOD I'M SORRY!"

"What?" Sakura enquired.

"I…I'M SORRY! I SAW SOMETHING I SHOULDN'T HAVE!"

He didn't want to look above again, and yet something in his brain was telling him to look again. Or his pants. What was going on in his pants very much wanted to look up again. The scythe-now-broomstick grew hot from the blush that was happening to Syaoran's face. It didn't hurt Sakura. It just felt warm. However, the scythe-now-broomstick began to waver, almost dropping Sakura.

"EEP!" she squeaked, "Syaoran, what's the matter?!"

"I… I DUNNO! I'M SORRY!"

"For Pete's sake, just tell me what's wrong!"

"It's…IT'S NOTHING!"

And with that, Syaoran started muttering something in Mandarin and then the shaking and strange warmth stopped. Syaoran kept his eyes ahead.

The focus didn't last for long, as Sakura found a piece of land to stop on.

"Syaoran, how'd you do that warming thing?" his meister asked, genuinely curious.

"What warming thing?"

"The thing! The shaft of the scythe was warm! How did you do that?"

Syaoran was still in his scythe form as he blushed again. The shaft was now warm again.

"Yes! That! How're you doing that?"

"I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW!" her weapon cried in anguish. Sakura pouted, feeling somewhat disappointed. Syaoran was trying to drive away thoughts of what that warmth she was referring to felt like between her legs.

And then, a stream of flame flew up and formed into a young girl with wings. Sakura drew a card from her leather holster.

"WATERY!"

The mermaid spirit flew out, glaring down the spirit girl in flames. Soon they were fighting. While the water seemed to weaken the fire spirit, it couldn't be defeated completely. WATERY retreated only for the fire spirit to rekindle its fires.

The spirit whirled around Sakura only to pick her up by the arms, scythe!Syaoran still in her grasp. She tried to kick free. She could feel the girl's hands singeing her skin through her sleeves.

"SAKURA!" he yelled. He swung himself upward, somehow hitting the fire girl in the face. She let go, Sakura's sleeves now on fire.

Sakura released The FLY once more, and she and Syaoran soared through the air as she brushed the now small flames off her uniform shirt. The sleeves were falling off. Sakura tore the remaining threads still in tack and threw the sleeves off. She then flew to a patch of trees that, thankfully, weren't on fire.

After they landed, Syaoran became a human once again.

"Are you okay?!" he fretted.

"I'm fine," she smiled reassuringly, and she looked at her arms. Not serious burns, thankfully. The spirit wasn't intending to hurt her. Yet again, her burns would've been worse, if Syaoran hadn't done what he did.

"Thank you," she told him serenely. He blushed.

"Sakura?!" a voice called. It was Tomoyo, with Meiling and Kero not far behind. Tomoyo had a large tote bag with her, for some reason.

"Are you okay?" she asked, taking her dear friend's hand.

"I'm alright, thanks to my weapon partner over here," she smiled, pointing to Syaoran.

"Oh no, you're uniform!" Tomoyo cried.

"No biggie," Sakura shrugged, "I just gotta treat my slight burns—"

"It's a good thing I brought a change of clothes!" Tomoyo cheered, pulling a flashy costume out of the large tote bag.

"Maybe, we can worry about that later?" Meiling scolded, as she held up a first aid kit. Tomoyo took it gratefully and helped treat Sakura's burns. She now had bandages around her upper arms.

"Well now, that's not a bad look for you!" Tomoyo smirked. Sakura looked at her, befuddled.

"You look like a fighter chick from a video game!" her friend explained. Kero made video game punching and kicking noises behind her.

"So, what are we going to do about this fire?" Meiling asked, "Did ya' try WATERY?"

"We did, but it wasn't strong enough," Sakura frowned.

"_Two_," a voice whispered.

Sakura nearly jumped. She could hear it in her head. It was like before, when catching The SHADOW.

"_You need two cards_," the voice whispered again.

Sakura went to her deck in her holster. She pulled out WATERY, thinking she needed another card to use with it but didn't know which. FREEZE would probably melt, so that wasn't an option.

Then, an idea struck her. She went to her deck again, pulling out WINDY. She then grabbed Syaoran's hand.

"Come with me," she told him.

"Where you goin'?" Kero called out.

"I GOTTA PLAN!" she answered, "I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!"

As she ran to the edge where the earth started cracking, Sakura noticed that the trees they were by weren't shaking as much as the earth around them. She stopped and ran back.

"What are you doing?" Syaoran called.

"I REMEMBERED SOMETHING!" she called back, and she ran up to Tomoyo. She pulled a card from her deck: WOOD.

"If it shows up, use this," Sakura told her and Meiling, "Hopefully, I'll be back before that happens."

Tomoyo, her eyes anxious, hugged her best friend tightly. Then, without warning, she gave Sakura a peck on the cheek. Sakura blinked, her cheeks turning a bright pink.

"Think of it as…good luck," Tomoyo shrugged, "Sorry, I just…be careful."

"I will," Sakura smiled. She ran back to Syaoran as Tomoyo stood there with the others.

While she was putting the costume back in the tote bag, Tomoyo's cheeks pinked as her mouth curled into a hopeful and loving smile.

* * *

They flew through the air, Syaoran in scythe-gone-broomstick form once again and keeping his eyes away from…certain views.

"So what's the plan?" he asked.

"We need to find that fire girl again," she told him.

"Well, I know that, but what do we do when we get to that?"

"I don't know if it'll work, but we need to use two of these cards instead of one."

"They're elementals though. Are you going to be okay?"

"Well, I'm sure I will, but either way, it's worth trying."

Sakura circled through the air until the fire spirit appeared once again. She had a fighting spirit in her eyes and a smirk on her lips. Sakura pulled out her two cards and cast her spell; hoping and praying it would work.

"_WINDY! WATERY!_"

The two spirits flew through the air straight towards the fire spirit. The surrounded her, so much so that the girl couldn't hold her flame for very long. Sakura clenched her fist in victory.

Overwhelmed, the fire spirit passed out and curled into a golden bauble for Sakura to capture. The young, fiery girl with wings was on the face of the new card, her eyes peacefully closed. Her title read The FIREY.

"We…we did it!" Syaoran breathed out, as they hovered to a stable rock formation.

"WE DID IT!" Sakura cheered in agreement. As Syaoran immediately turned back into a human, Sakura greeted him with a warm and energetic hug. Syaoran only stiffened slightly, but somehow, he could see himself getting used to her warm hugs. He smiled to himself as she swung him and herself back and forth giggling in glee.

Suddenly realizing her supposed mistake, she stopped and quickly let go, giving a stream of a thousand sorry's.* He tried to calm her down, but then a burst of light appeared behind him.

It was near the small assortment of unblemished trees.

"Oh no! Tomoyo! Meiling!" Sakura cried, and then something flew out of the clearing, as the mighty rock serpent came onto it's trail.

It was a large, winged lion. It had no mane, but it wore a helmet with a red jewel of some sort, as Sakura noted when it came close. Some people were riding on its back.

Seeing that the rock monster wouldn't stop following it, it reared around and roared out a burst of flames at it, like a dragon. The rock creature flung back, deciding to retreat underground, like an earthworm. The winged lion swung down and landed on the large rock Sakura and Syaoran were standing on.

Tomoyo and Meiling hopped off of its back and ran over to them.

"SAKURA, DID YOU SEE ALL OF THAT?! IT WAS SO COOL!" her friend squealed in delight. Sakura nodded but seemed confused. She didn't recognize the creature in front of her.

"Hey there, kiddo," it spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.

Sakura only stared.

"Hey, c'mon, it's me! Cerberus?"

It hit her. Kero always talked about how his true form was super cool.

"Kero-chan?"

"Yup!" he seemed to smile.

Sakura ran up to him, hugging his now larger figure. He placed a large paw on her back.

"My God, I…you're a…" Sakura stammered.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

Sakura began scratching behind Kero's now smaller ears, and he began to purr, though it was more of a soft rumble.

"You do look pretty cool," Sakura admitted, "Although, there's one thing that's bugging me…"

"Where's your mane, you stuffed animal?" Syaoran smirked.

"I KEEP IT TRIMMED!" Kero retorted. Suddenly he leaped into the air and landed straight on top of Syaoran.

"Compared to before, you don't stand a chance against me, brat," Kero huffed out, with Syaoran struggling under the large lion's weight.

The girls only laughed, and Sakura gave a nervous chuckle. Suddenly the rock serpent was out of the ground again, shaking everything around it.

"Tomoyo, grab Meiling," Sakura ordered.

"What?" she stammered, looking perplexed.

"I gave you WOOD to use against this earth monster. I want you two to go out there and show it."

"Oh, you being lazy, Ms. Soul Captor?" Meiling jeered.

"No, I know you've said that you feel like you don't do anything, but I think you can do this. Go out there and show them your stuff!"

Meiling looked shocked.

"But…but I can't! I…I've never…"

"Sure you have! You caught all those other cards with Syaoran, right? You can do it! We _are_ a team, after all. Right?"

Meiling looked like she was about to cry. She hugged Sakura tightly for the first time.

"Right," Meiling smiled, her eyes teary, "Come on, Tomoyo! You ready to do this?"

"Yes ma'am, Ms. Meister!" she chirped. They grabbed hands, and Tomoyo turned herself into the sealing wand. Sakura handed her a card. Meiling looked at it and grinned.

"_FLY!_" she shouted.

And they were off into the sky. The serpent was ready to strike, but Meiling pulled out the other card she had.

"_Bind this creature until it breaks! Lend your power to me, I beg! WOOD!_"

With no effort, WOOD burst out, binding the rock serpent with roots and vines of every kind. It thrashed and screeched until the vines crushed it to rubble. As WOOD retreated back into her card, the rubble flew up and formed itself into its true face. It was another woman, with a headpiece and dress made entirely out of rock. She smiled before crumbling again and forming into another golden bauble.

As Meiling floated, she held the golden soul in her hands. She clutched it tightly and flew back to the others.

Once landed, Sakura sealed the soul away into a blank card. The rock-covered woman appeared gentle and benevolent as the card's picture. The title read The EARTHY. Once done, the three girls huddled in together and jumped for joy. Kero smiled serenely, no longer on top of Syaoran as he too smiled. Meiling ran over and hugged him.

"I DID IT, SYAORAN! I REALLY DID IT! I mean…we…" she pointed to Tomoyo and herself, "…we did it!"

Syaoran hugged her back gently.

"You did great out there," he told her, and they both smiled.

Suddenly, someone quickly came up behind Tomoyo, covering her mouth. Everyone leaped in shock and was about to attack. Unfortunately, this stranger had a knife to Tomoyo's throat.

"Sakura Kinomoto?" the stranger called out. It was a woman's voice. Her hair was long and red. Her eyes were dark brown.

Sakura stepped forward.

"You're to meet outside with The LIGHT outside of Death City tomorrow night. Your final trial will begin there."

"If she refuses?" Tomoyo choked out with a smirk. The woman brought knife closer to the girl's neck.

"I'll kill you where you stand," she hissed.

Sakura's mind flashed to her dream of Tomoyo in a pool of blood.

"I'll come, but…what do you mean 'LIGHT'?" she questioned, "I don't even have a Clow Card named that."

"You need to bring The LIGHT, or she dies tomorrow night," the woman told her, the words slipping down Sakura's spine like ice.

"So long, and see you then," the woman finished, as she took out a hand sized golden object, ribbons draping from below it. She waved it in the air, and the clanging of a bell could be heard. Tomoyo reached out to Sakura, who ran towards her but to no avail. The ribbons swirled around them, and with that, the two ladies were gone. Sakura dropped to her knees. Everyone ran to her.

Sakura was in tears. Her friend was gone. She didn't have any card called The LIGHT. Their day ended with success but also an empty victory and a growing dread.


	21. Chapter 20: Light

AN: I think I made myself sad writing this chapter. When Sakura is sad, I am sad. I guess that's how it goes.

* * *

There was a construction company in Death City made entirely out of witches and wizards, so it didn't take long before the city looked like normal again. As normal by Death City standards. At least there were no more cracks and trenches forming in the streets, and there were no more trees on fire.

Sakura used WOOD and FLOWER to help repair some of the botanical fauna as well. Generous students and citizens were cleaning up as well. It was all Sakura could do to distract herself from the growing dread inside of her.

Tomoyo was on her mind. Her best friend would die, if she didn't find The LIGHT. However, spirits of CLOW had a natural habit of coming to her instead of her searching for one. So how was she supposed to find this particular spirit if she didn't know where the hell it was? She had to clues or leads. She felt hopeless. Her friend, her best friend in the whole world, was going to die.

The holster with the Clow Cards inside rustled to get her attention. She opened it and all of them flew out, encircling her. They floated there for some time, much to Sakura confusion.

She felt wavelengths pulsing from each one, as if they were trying to comfort her in some way. Her heart became somewhat lighter, seeing spirits she barely knew now being so kind to her.

"Thank you," she whispered. They sparkled and circled her happily, making silver bell noises until she started to giggle. She held out her hand, and they all fell into a nice neat pile, resting on her palm and fingers.

She later ate dinner with a tired Syaoran and Meiling, as they tried to cheer each other up. She wasn't going to give up just yet.

* * *

As she lay in bed, Sakura flipped through each Clow Card like she was studying flashcards. It was when she came to The DREAM that she stopped.

She was told that she had the power of precognitive dreaming, from Kero, Ms. Yuuko, and even this card. She wondered if this spirit could help her somehow. She took the card out and put all the other cards back in the holster and onto her nightstand. She decided to place DREAM under her pillow and slowly fell asleep.

All dreams were connected, as she had been told before. She hoped it would connect her to some sort of answer to save Tomoyo.

* * *

She was in a white dress, different from last time, and she was under the same cherry tree. DREAM stood there in front of her, smiling gently.

"_You seek LIGHT, correct?_" she asked.

"Yes, I need that spirit to save Tomoyo," Sakura pleaded.

"_You needn't look far, young Sakura._"

DREAM placed her hand on the cherry blossom tree, and Sakura looked up. The petals were dancing around her, falling around them like snow. Putting her hand on the trunk of the tree, Sakura swore that she could feel a pulsing, like a heartbeat.

The trunk made a slight crack, and Sakura peeked through it. It was some sort of strange vortex, like a universe was being born inside. She began to tear at the bark frantically, her fingers getting splintered, cut, and blistered. However, more of this small universe began to show. It was drawing her in. When she made the space in the trunk big enough, Sakura kicked her leg up and hopped straight in.

"_Good luck,_" DREAM called, as the bark of the trunk repaired itself so that no trace of the universe inside could be seen.

The sky and space around Sakura was like seeing the universe, black and a spectrum of colors with stars sprinkled liberally through it all. The ground under her feet felt like cold glass when her toes touched it.

As she walked about it, she felt as if she was floating. The colors in the sparkling sky dimmed until only a few stars and blackness remained, reflecting in the glass below her, like water. She continued walking until the world around her started snowing cherry blossom petals again.

Sakura became more grounded to the glass at her feet, stepping onto cherry blossom petals. She walked slower, fearing she would slip. Strangely, the petals were soft yet created friction for her feet to tread on the smooth glass.

She heard soft "ching" of bells and followed it, quickening her pace. As she got closer, the bells got louder. Hearing them to her left, she turned. It was the older version of herself from her previous dream. She appeared to be strung up with wire, like she was being cradled in a hammock. Cherry blossom petals lay softly on her elegantly dressed form. She was still wearing the pink and purple dress from before. When Sakura stepped closer, the woman opened her eyes, like a plastic baby doll, wide and unblinking.

The adult Sakura reached out to her. Sakura stepped forward and touched her hand. With that, the bells rung again and the wires snapped, releasing the mysterious and older doppelganger. The woman floated down gracefully, petals falling off her clothes and faces and onto the glass below.

"It seems I arrived to you at the right moment," the woman smiled gently, life filling her face. She put her hand on Sakura's cheek, looking into her eyes thoughtfully.

"Who are you?" Sakura couldn't help but ask. Her older self smiled.

"I am you," she answered.

"That seems obvious, but…are you from the future?"

"No…" the woman looked down sadly, "I'm from the past and also the present."

Sakura already felt her head spin.

"Because of one man's wish, time and space has distorted," her older self explained with a stern demeanor, "It is my wish to fix it, and through your journey…we may be able to."

"How are you a past version of me _and_ a present version of me?"

"I am not from your universe. I'm from another. In time, it will become clear for you. For now, there is something you need."

"Oh yeah! My…friend…"

"Tomoyo-chan…"

"Yes, Tomoyo-ch… you know her?"

"There is a Tomoyo Daidouji in my world as well," the woman told her, sadness filling her eyes.

"I see…"

"Your Tomoyo is in trouble, correct?"

"Yes."

"You need to bring them something…or rather some_one_."

"Yes!"

"Come with me."

Sakura followed her to the wires that hung limply in the air. Spreading them apart, like curtains, the woman tore open a portal that seemed to lead to another cherry blossom tree.

As they stepped through, Sakura saw a place that looked more natural. It was a garden of some sort. No…not a garden. More of a small yard. The cherry blossom tree was large and stood with a strange wooden fence behind it. Feeling something loom behind her, Sakura turned around.

It was a Japanese styled house, with sliding doors and tiled roofing. The way the house was arranged on the exterior, however, seemed more European, possibly Victorian. It had a large walking porch, wear a young man sat, smoking a pipe similar to Ms. Yuuko's. He wore a kimono loosely on his wiry frame. His hair was short and jet-black and his eyes were blue. His glasses resembled Clow Reed's glasses a little. Sitting next to him was a black rabbit of some sort with squinty eyes and a round, blue jewel on its forehead.

"What is this place?" Sakura questioned, taking it all in.

"It's a shop," older Sakura answered, "A shop that grants wishes. This tree is where I currently am."

"You're…in the tree?"

"It is a price I pay, but only for a little while longer."

"Who's the man sitting behind us?"

"Kimihiro Watanuki. He is the current owner of this shop, until his master returns. I don't know if she ever will, but…we'll let fate decide that part."

"Can he see us?"

"At one time, he could see things like me, but now he only feels them. He knows we're here, but only in a separate reality. He is in the world of the living. We are in the dream world. A world of…of the dead."

Sakura froze. Dead? This older version of herself couldn't possibly be suggesting…

"You're dead…" Sakura whispered. Her older self looked at her with sad eyes. A tear rolled down her face.

"Not fully…" she choked, "At times though, I wish I were, but that is part of the process of living this way, trapped here, and unable to move on. Death is a transition of sorts, and I haven't made the full transition. I'm waiting for the moment that I can."

Sakura felt horrified. This older version of herself looked so broken. There were times she felt hopeless, but she never knew sadness like what she was witnessing. Older Sakura was clawing at the tree's bark in front of her, as if it was a wall to break through. She then stopped crying and turned to Sakura, gripping her shoulders tightly.

"Listen to me carefully, Sakura Kinomoto," she instructed, "This spirit of Clow you are taking is a part of myself I found when I was very small. It is the light I had in my heart, much like what you have in your own soul. You must keep it close to you. This is the first step you must take in releasing me and the other spirits of Clow, alright?"

Sakura nodded, trying to calm her nerves a little.

"When I was younger, I was in a play. I played a prince. A darkness enveloped everyone around me, but I still remained. I was able to go on. Do you know how?"

Sakura shook her head slowly.

"It was LIGHT. She was in my heart, and she came with me when I was sealed in here. She's going to come with you, and you must bring her through to your world. Do you understand?"

Sakura nodded. She had a clearer idea of what to do, even if she didn't understand some of the details this version of her was saying.

"When that happens, you will need to find DARK. While this wasn't true for before, DARK is part of your Tomoyo's heart. She was…a gift of sorts."

"From you, Ms…um…"

"Ms. Sakura's fine. And no, not from me. She…she was given from the Tomoyo in…my universe."

"Where is she?"

Sakura didn't answer. The world around them was starting to crumble.

"It appears you're starting to wake up," the older Sakura pointed out. She went to the tree and made another tear. Reaching inside the grabbed a young woman's dead white hand, leading her out. It was a gorgeous woman, adorabed in all white with black as night eyes. She wore a white crown on her head, and her hair was as long as her tall figure, kinking and curling.

"**_Hello,_**" the woman addressed Sakura. Sakura gaped at how beautiful this spirit was.

"Are you…LIGHT?" Sakura asked.

"**_Yes, young lady, I am,_**" she said, in a voice that was as clear as crystal. The world around them crumbled.

"Come now, both of you!" the older Sakura pleaded, "There's no time to spare. We need to get LIGHT to your universe, Sakura!"

It was clear that even in these dreams, Sakura was travelling to other universes, or at least seemed like she was.

Older Sakura ripped tears through these different realities until they reached one where DREAM stood by the cherry blossom tree, waiting patiently. Sakura got through easily. Older Sakura couldn't leave.

"Why aren't you coming?" Sakura cried to her other self.

"I only was able to come into your own dream the other time because of the little power I have left!" she shouted through the crumbling around her, "I can't leave here until you wake up, but you need to bring LIGHT with you! Don't worry about me for now! Save your friend!"

The sadness in Sakura's eyes quickly turned into determination as she grabbed LIGHT's hand and dragged her through. It was more difficult than she expected.

"REMEMBER YOUR INVINCIBLE SPELL, SAKURA!" her older self called, "IT'S WRITTEN IN THE BOOK! I'M SURE YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT!"

Hearing those words seemed to spark something within Sakura as she dragged LIGHT with more force through the tear in the tree. DREAM saw her struggling and began to pull with her.

"IT'S BECAUSE SHE'S A PART OF MS. SAKURA, I BELIEVE," DREAM shouted above the turmoil, "DON'T WORRY, YOUNG SAKURA! WE'LL GET HER THROUGH! PULL HARDER!"

Sakura only had so much arm strength in her, but then…she thought of Tomoyo. She thought of her friends back home. LIGHT seemed to be coming through more easily. Older Sakura began to push the spirit through behind her.

With one more pull, the tear seemed to spit LIGHT out and everyone fell backwards. A tired older Sakura waved wearily with a bigger smile on her face as the tear in the tree closed. The world around them was calm, and all of the ladies got up off the ground.

"**_Thank you, young Sakura, for bringing me through,_**" the beautiful lady in white smiled. Sakura returned with a nervous laugh and a grin.

"I guess…I'm a little surprised," Sakura admitted, "From my other dream I had the other night, she seemed so collected and…powerful. But tonight, she…she seemed so sad. What happened to her in her universe?"

"_She is very troubled, young Sakura,_" DREAM answered, "_However, you are still right to believe that she's very powerful. She will be all right. The fact that you exist now is giving her hope. You'll see._"

"My existence…is giving her hope?"

"**_You are the key to everything, young Sakura,_**" LIGHT added, "**_You will be alright._**"

As LIGHT brushed her fingers through Sakura's hair, the young meister relaxed a little and smiled. They all rested under the cherry blossom tree, watching the petals float to the ground and dance around them. Sakura felt her eyes droop and stretched her arms out in a big yawn. LIGHT and DREAM let the young meister rest her head in both of their laps as LIGHT continued stroking Sakura's hair. She felt her soul relax as she faded back into reality.

* * *

Sakura awoke drowsily to feel something warm under her pillow. Her eyes felt heavy, but she turned her head to see that her pillow was glowing gold. She got up quickly and lifted her pillow, liking a child checking if the tooth fairy left a quarter or a dollar.

A golden Clow soul giggled a little next to The DREAM card, which looked like it hadn't bent from being squashed under the pillow. Sakura picked up both of them, setting The DREAM on the nightstand and grabbing a blank card.

"_Return to the form you were meant to be. CLOW CARD._"

With that, the image of the woman in white appeared her arms criss-crossed, holding a sun in one hand and a cloud in the other. The name read The LIGHT.

Sakura stared at it for a moment before sprinting out the bedroom door and bursting into Syaoran's room.

"SYAORAN! OH MY GOD OHMYGOD SYAORAN!" she squawked.

The young weapon flailed about on the bed like a fish out of water before quickly sitting up, his hair messier than usual. He was clad in a white undershirt and boxers. When he saw who woke him up, his eyes widened and he covered himself as if he'd been caught naked, his face flushed.

"Whu—SAKURA?! WHAT…"

"LOOK!" she screamed joyously, "LOOK WHAT I CAUGHT! I WAS DREAMING AND THERE WAS THIS OLDER VERSION OF ME ANDTHENJUSTHERE! LOOK!"

She scrambled onto the bed next to him and held out the card for him to see. He squinted at it, and his eyes widened when he realized what it was.

"The LIGHT…" he stammered.

"I KNOW!" she squealed.

At this, Syaoran immediately hugged her, and she hugged him back. Their souls resonated joy back and forth, celebrating this small moment of hope out of many to come. However, Sakura sensed that they were hugging for maybe a little too long. Syaoran realized this and let go quickly, his red flush returning to his cheeks.

"It looks like we can go find Tomoyo now," he chuckled nervously, scratching his head. Sakura giggled excitedly as she leaped off the bed.

"Let's grab breakfast and get this day rolling! We've got a battle to win!" she cheered, as she ran off to call Meiling and get a plan of action together.


	22. Chapter 21: Dark

AN: Let's get this trial underway! Go save your girlfri… best friend, Sakura! Also, here. Have overt lesbian symbolism. And I'm calling The NOTHING The VOID instead, as it is another translation of the card's name. It fits in with the story. Trust me.

* * *

Tomoyo had a blindfold over her eyes as the clacking of heels could be heard on tile floors. She slept with that blindfold on and her hands tied behind her back, and it seemed that they weren't going to come off anytime soon.

The clacking got closer now. Soon, her kidnapper had her by the hair and pulled her to her feet. She felt a few hairs pluck from her scalp as a result, but her captor still held her hair tightly.

"You're making him upset, you know?" the kidnapper said.

Tomoyo stayed silent. She knew. Clow Reed wasn't happy with her decision to partner with Meiling or keep her distance from Sakura. She could feel it in her soul. It was as if he was with her all of the time. Her mind constantly filled itself with the white noise of static, like faulty cable networks on a TV set.

"Why do you fight us like this, Ms. Daidouji?"

Still, Tomoyo kept her lips shut.

"Oh that's right. The blindfold. Here."

Finally, the blindfold was removed. Tomoyo felt blinded though. The light in the room was very bright. Before her stood the woman with long, red hair and brown eyes. She had a gentle smile on her face. She wore what looked like clothes you'd where as a grade school teacher: long, pleated maxi skirt, a button-up shirt, and a tweed blazer.

"Hello," she greeted, "Do you remember me?"

Tomoyo stared at her. She _was_ the woman that took her away, but she seemed to be hinting that she met Tomoyo before that.

She shook her head.

"Didn't think so," she sighed, "I'm Kaho Mizuki. I used to substitute as a math teacher at Tomoeda Elementary. But…that was a long time ago."

Kaho let go of Tomoyo's hair and pushed her back onto the floor. Tomoyo landed smack on her rear. She felt immense pain in her tailbone.

"He said that we'd all remember eventually," Kaho went on, "But it would take some time. Is that spirit still inside you?"

Tomoyo froze.

"It's amazing how all of these spirits of Clow showed up, isn't it? Quite miraculous actually. He found them the day he awoke here. It was in a book with his name on it, so obviously it was meant for him. He knew that young girl was in this universe, and so…he figured he could draw her back to him with her old friends. I don't know why that _other_ girl sent the cards to this universe, but…"

Tomoyo was now completely confused.

"Oh, I guess he didn't tell you! So sorry, dear."

Kaho got closer.

"Those spirits aren't from Clow, you know. Originally, from what I heard, that book was all pink and had a different magic circle on it. But, he _did_ say they were created by him a long time ago in another universe, so I guess it's alright. They came from that other girl as well. Do you know who she is?"

Tomoyo shook her head.

"Why, she's the one who brought you here! You would've been an entirely different person, if she didn't bring you here."

Tomoyo felt her head about to burst. These spirits of Clow were _found_? A girl brought her into this universe and made her into a weapon of Clow's? Why?

"I suppose I've said enough," Kaho sighed, "I just needed to talk to someone about what he was telling me. This little girl in the black orb is all mopey."

Over in the corner was the girl in question. She had long, curly hair that was an ashy brown or blonde; Tomoyo didn't know which. She seemed very young, and then she sensed it. This little girl was a spirit of Clow. She was glaring at Kaho from her corner.

"No need to look so upset," Kaho chuckled.

"You're not supposed to be here," the girl hissed, "He brought you back to life. That's a major taboo!"

"Indeed, but he loves me, so it's no trouble at all," Kaho sneered, as she turned on her heels and went to exit a very strange door.

"We'll be out of here soon," she said to Tomoyo, "See what you can do about that spirit of Clow in your soul, dear."

The door clicked shut.

Tomoyo took a moment to look at her surroundings, but there wasn't much there. It was an empty, white-walled room. She decided to collapse to the ground and lay there. The girl in her black orb floated to her.

"You know what she's talking about?" she asked.

"Vaguely," Tomoyo answered, "There's a woman in my dreams that says she's a spirit of Clow, and I've had it a few times, especially when I was in that cell a long while ago."

"Go to sleep," said the girl, "You'll see her there."

"Are you…helping me somehow?"

"I can only do so much, since I am a prisoner and also a jailer, but soon I shall be free, like all the others."

Tomoyo stared cluelessly, but the girl motioned her to not think about it too much. Tomoyo decided to shut her eyes and maybe get the bright light out of her eyes.

* * *

"**_You've been ignoring me for a while,_**" the spirit said.

Tomoyo sat on a glassy floor in this dream of hers, in a black dress with long sleeves. She hugged her knees to her chest as she turned to finally face whatever spirit this was supposed to be.

It was a beautiful woman with bleach-white skin and dark lips. Her eyes were black as the rest of her ensemble. Her low-cut dress was as dark as the work around them, as well as her straight as bone black hair. Both of which were as long and tall as she was. She had a tall, back crown on top of her head.

Tomoyo felt her face heat up at the sight of such a gorgeous woman, and she looked away quickly.

"**_Please don't ignore me again like you seem to do,_**" the woman pleaded earnestly.

"Sorry, I just…you're very pretty," Tomoyo stammered. The woman was taken aback, but she smiled soon after.

"**_You have questions, I'm sure,_**" she said.

Tomoyo whipped her head around and nodded.

"**_Go ahead,_**" the woman motioned, "**_I will answer as best as I can._**"

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Tomoyo began.

"**_I am DARK. I was sent here by my old master, Ms. Sakura._**"

"Sakura? You mean…"

"**_No, no, not the Sakura you know. She is from another universe. She is also the one who brought you here._**"

"But how…why?"

"**_She told me she had a childhood friend. She had dark hair and the bluest eyes. She was apparently in love with Ms. Sakura, and Ms. Sakura never knew, even after she…_**"

There was a pause.

"This friend…she died, didn't she?"

"**_I'm afraid so. It wasn't until she made it to the other side that she realized it._**"

Characters came alive before them, like a play. It was an older Sakura and Tomoyo.

"Why…why are you here?" older Tomoyo asked, horror evident on her face.

"To find everyone," the older Sakura replied, "To fix everything that Clow Reed broke."

"But if you're here, that means you're…NO! NO NO NO NO NO! SAKURA-CHAN!"

The older Tomoyo ran up and wrapped her arms around Sakura's waist, falling to her knees in sobs.

"It's okay, Tomoyo-chan, really," she cooed, "Don't cry."

"BUT YOU CAN'T BE DEAD! YOU CAN'T BE!"

"No one lives forever."

"BUT…but look at you. You're still so young and beautiful! You should be with Syaoran-kun, and…"

Sakura's face fell.

"Everyone is dead, Tomoyo. Everyone I love…everyone in my life is gone. He did this. Clow Reed, he… He's torn apart everything."

"But…but how?"

"In another universe, a wish was granted. It became distorted and somehow affected our universe as well. And all of it, I discovered, was linked to Clow Reed, the Clow Cards, and the wish he had and thrust onto me. Now, he's become a distortion in a different universe. I…I have to stop him."

"And now you're dead…"

"Not completely. My body is completely gone, but my soul still remains. I can go to different universes only so often through dreams now. I was…surprised to see you here. I thought you'd be with VOID…"

"The VOID card?"

"Yes! I've got it all figured out! I'm going to send the Clow Cards to a reincarnation of myself that I found in this universe! She has the power to stop Clow Reed once and for all! Everything will be fixed!"

"Am I there?"

"I'm afraid not. I didn't see you there. I did see Syaoran-kun, and dad, and…Tomoyo-chan?"

The older Tomoyo was looking on the ground now and chuckling in defeat.

"Hah…even in other universes, we're not meant to be, are we?"

"Huh?"

"You never knew Sakura, but…sometimes, I always thought that…in some other universe, we'd be together."

"You're still my best friend, Tomoyo-chan! That hasn't cha—"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!"

Sakura was taken aback now as Tomoyo sobbed.

"Sakura-chan, you're a smart girl, but BY GOD you are dense as can be sometimes. It was so frustrating, especially when I…"

When she saw the hurt in her friend's eyes, she stopped.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"No…you're right. I was…can be a bit dense. I'm sorry."

Tomoyo looked at her friend straight in the eye.

"I love you."

Sakura had sadness in her eyes.

"Even as you walked down the aisle with that wonderful boy, even as you looked at Yukito-san with longing when you were ten, from the moment I saw you Sakura-chan I loved you with every once of my being."

Sakura began crying.

"And I know you love Syaoran-kun the most. I wanted to see you happy. And even now, if you're happy, then so am I! But these feelings…never went away! Even now, I curse the fact that I have them! I thought I'd find someone like you did! I tried dating men, and I just…I CAN'T! I ONLY HAD EYES FOR YOU! EVERY GIRL THAT I SAW WHILE I WAS ALIVE LOOKED LIKE YOU! I'M NOT ATTRACTED TO BOYS! I CAN'T EVEN FORCE MYSELF TO LIKE BOYS THAT WAY WHEN I TRY! I'M ALL ALONE! I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU, AND YOU'RE NOT IN LOVE WITH ME, AND THERE'S NO SPECIAL PERSON OUT THERE FOR ME, NO MATTER HOW HARD I PRAY!"

The older Tomoyo was a sobbing mess as older Sakura let hers roll down her cheeks. Tomoyo and DARK merely watched, but Tomoyo started to cry as well.

Sakura held her friend tightly.

"I'm sorry, Tomoyo-chan," she choked, "I'm sorry I can't feel the same way, and I'm sorry that I never…that I never saw how you felt."

She lifted Tomoyo's face to meet her gaze.

"Don't worry," she told her friend, "I've got an idea. I'm going to make sure you find someone just for you. I'm sure there's someone. No, I know it! Come with me."

The two older versions of Tomoyo and her friend faded away, and Tomoyo wiped the tears from her face.

"**_Ms. Sakura took her dear friend's soul and attached it to the weapon Clow Reed was making,_**" DARK continued,"**_To make sure he wouldn't have any influence on you, he left you on a young woman's porch, hoping you could live a peaceful beginning._**"

Tomoyo felt her heart ache. It was this other version of Sakura that left her with Sonomi Daidouji of the universe they lived in.

"**_She knew that the weapon would form a partnership with Sakura, which was why she put the soul there. She also knew that you wouldn't do what Clow Reed wanted because of your dedication to the young Sakura. She wanted to make sure that her friend had a chance to at least find love in young Sakura, or even someone else, if fate allowed. You are a true reincarnation of the original Tomoyo Daidouji._**"

"What about Sakura? Is she…"

"**_Young Sakura, the Sakura of your world, is not the same as Ms. Sakura. They are similar, but they are completely different people. You and another lady are the only true reincarnations._**"

"Another one? Who?"

"**_A woman who governs time and space. Her name, I believe, is Yuuko Ichihara._**"

"So then…why are you here with me? Other than to tell me all of these things…"

"**_Ms. Sakura attached me to Ms. Tomoyo before turning her over to this world so that she may become you. During the process, however, LIGHT attached herself to Ms. Sakura, for when I act, she acts in turn._**"

"LIGHT?"

"**_My most precious person. She is my other half and a spirit of Clow. She tried to attach herself to your soul as well, but it was too much for you._**"

"So…she's your…lover?"

"**_More of a wife, but yes._**"

At this, Tomoyo blinked. Even other spirits could be attracted like humans could. The idea that this spirit called her significant other her wife made Tomoyo smile.

"**_She told me to tell you these things because she didn't want you to be disheartened. Ms. Sakura said that there is a chance you may end up with the young Sakura._**"

Tomoyo whipped her head and blushed brightly.

"Wha?!"

"**_She told me to tell you that you have a chance with her. She said there was also someone else in this universe that could be your most precious person as well. Which one it was…she wasn't sure. She told me it got…blurry._**"

"This…Ms. Sakura can see into the future?"

"**_Very much so. Through dreams, like your young Sakura can._**"

There was a soft rumbling.

"**_It seems they've arrived. I must tell you now. Kaho is a formidable opponent. VOID, the small child, is also powerful. Sakura will need to defeat both to complete the final trial._**"

"What is this final trial supposed to be?"

"**_All I can say now is that the person Sakura loves is not who they appear to be._**"

The rumbling got louder, and Tomoyo felt arms around her that she couldn't see.

"**_I must go. Clow Reed is beckoning me. Unlike you, I cannot disobey. Be brave, Tomoyo Daidouji._**"

With that, Tomoyo's vision became hazy. There was nothing but darkness when she awoke. However, a fiery yet dim light appeared on her right.

* * *

"Tomoyo?"

It was Meiling. She had Tomoyo resting in one of her arms. She held Tomoyo's hand with the other.

Tomoyo sat up, rubbing her head. It seemed the ropes that bound her hands were gone.

"TOMOYO!" Sakura shouted in joy, as she embraced her. Tomoyo sighed and smiled, hugging her dear friend back.

"Are you okay?" Tomoyo asked.

"Hey, that's _my_ line," Sakura pouted, and they both giggled.

"I'm fine," Tomoyo replied.

"So am I," her friend nodded.

It was pitch black around them. Syaoran held one of his fire paper charms as a candle in the darkness. Kero, in his large lion form, shielded them with his wings.

"Where are we?" Tomoyo asked. She felt the familiar tile below her, but there were no signs of the white walls or the young spirit of Clow.

"We hopped into some rip in space that showed up in the desert," Meiling shrugged, "I tell you. Nothing but weird shit every day."

"When we came to the desert to get you," Syaoran added, "We found this rip and it led us into some bright, white hallway. We saw a draw, but it was…leaking blackness. Sakura ran towards it, opened it, and then we were here."

"We lit one of Syaoran's charms to see if you were here," Sakura finished, "Have you been in this darkness the whole time?"

"No…" Tomoyo shook her head, "This is a spirit of Clow. It's DARK."

Everyone turned their heads to Tomoyo.

"It's a Clow spirit?!" Sakura exclaimed, "I can't even feel it!"

"It must be very powerful," Kero said, sweating nervously.

Tomoyo noticed the hint of Sakura's hand holding a card.

"Sakura, what is that?" she asked.

Sakura held it up for her to see. It was The LIGHT. Tomoyo blinked.

"How did you find that?!"

"Well, actually…" Meiling butted in, "Sakura had this awesome dream where she met some older version of herself and…"

Tomoyo stopped her and brought Sakura closer to her.

"You need to use that card."

"Huh? You sure?" Sakura puzzled.

"Positive," Tomoyo smiled, "Syaoran, you can put the flame out."

Syaoran nodded and put it out. In complete darkness, Tomoyo grabbed Sakura's hand holding the card and lifted it up. Realizing what she was doing, Sakura chanted the spell, and Tomoyo joined in.

"_LIGHT!_" they shouted.

Instantly the darkness cleared away as the woman in white appeared before them. The white walled room seemed to shine so bright that it looked like it was disappear. Everyone hid their faces. All that was dark in the room was a woman's figure sitting on the ground and the little girl in the black orb.

"**_DARK? I'm here! I'm sorry you had to wait,_**" the woman in white spoke gently.

DARK got up and leaped to LIGHT jubilantly. Their foreheads touched.

"**_I missed you terribly,_**" DARK replied, "**_But I'd wait forever if I had to. Now, let's clear this illusion of a room. What do you say?_**"

LIGHT nodded, and they both lifted an arm pointing above. The walls of the room crumbled. Everyone below huddled together under Kero's large, angel-like wings. The girl in the orb disappeared. The room was now a black empty space, tiled pillars scattered everywhere, either floating or placed on a ground no one could see. The sky above warped into strange, grotesque shapes in shades of gold, dark blue, and violet.

LIGHT wasn't as bright as before, DARK no longer wrapped darkness around them, and the group came out from under Kero's wings to see their new surroundings. The two spirits faced Sakura, warmly embracing each other.

"**_You returned me to her, and for that, I couldn't be happier,_**" LIGHT beamed, "**_Thank you, young Sakura._**"

Sakura smiled back.

"**_Your trial is not over, however,_**" DARK warned, "**_You must seal VOID and then pass the final trial. After that, you're true mission awaits._**"

Sakura nodded. With that, DARK twisted her body around until she was a golden soul, ready to seal away. LIGHT handed the soul to Sakura, who grabbed a blank card and sealed DARK away. Her image appeared on the card, her arms criss-crossed like LIGHT's, only in her hands she held a crescent moon in one and a six-pointed star in the other. Her title was on the bottom. When it was finished, LIGHT returned to her card.

Sakura now had The LIGHT and The DARK together at last. Tomoyo placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder, and they smiled at one another.

Tomoyo looked down and noticed what Sakura was wearing and nearly cried in joy. It was the outfit she made for her. It was a white and pink piece accented in black lining, with a white cap hat and a military style jacket, with gold buttons and a long coattail that separated into top points. It came with cuff-rolled shorts, and Sakura was wearing her big, black boots with the pink soles on them.

"You look so darling!" Tomoyo squealed.

"I figured I'd surprise you by wearing one of the outfits in your bag," Sakura giggled, "I liked this one, so…"

Tomoyo hugged her tightly, and Sakura returned the embrace with the same amount of force.

"Sakura!" Kero roared, and the two girls turned around.

The girl in the black orb floated before them. Meiling had Syaoran in his sword form, ready to fight.

"Please step aside, Creature of the Seal," she addressed to Kero.

"You too, descendants of Clow Reed," she addressed Meiling and Syaoran.

She floated forward to Sakura, who stepped forward.

"You're…the little girl from before…when I caught The ERASE," Sakura murmured. The girl nodded.

"I can now come with you," she said, "You will need my powers to understand your next mission."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" a voice shouted.

Everyone turned around again to see Kaho Mizuki standing on one of the tiled pillars. She was now in a Shinto shrine maiden's outfit, holding the strange golden object with the long ribbons hanging from it. She looked like a ravenous beast, unlike the calm demeanor she had before.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE THAT FINISHES HER!" she roared, "CLOW REED IS COMMANDING YOU—"

"Clow Reed holds no power over me!" the girl called out, "He never has. I have a mission to grant my master's wish, and I will see through to do so!"

She turned her attention back to Sakura.

"Your powers have something to do with the older me?" Sakura questioned.

"She is with me right now," the girl answered with a smile, and an afterimage of the older Sakura appeared for a brief moment before vanishing.

"Keep me by your pillow when the time comes," she continued, "Your dreams will get stranger. Your tasks will be harder. However, you will be stronger with each step you take. Here."

Out of the blackness of the girl's orb came a long card that floated to Sakura. It looked like a Clow Card, but it was pink and had no title on it. It simply had SAKURA in tiny, handwritten letters on the bottom and a simple red heart with wings as the picture.

"This is a gift from Ms. Sakura," the girl explained, "Good luck."

With that, the black orb popped and dissipated like a dry ice bubble. The girl twisted around, forming into a golden soul. Before she could chant any spell, a blank card appeared out of nowhere and the soul disappeared inside. Sakura grabbed it and saw the picture of the little girl with curly hair and a dress with draping that looked like wings, a large, black pearl-like jewel on her forehead, and pairs of wings on both the bodice of her dress and on top of her head. The title read The VOID.

Slow clapping began in the distance.

"Oh, well done, Sakura Kinomoto," Kaho sneered, "You caught them all."

Sakura put the cards in her holster and walked up.

"Who are you?!" she shouted, "What is this place?!"

"Why, I am your old teacher, Kaho Mizuki!" she exclaimed with pride, "Don't you remember me?"

Sakura shook her head slowly. Tomoyo glared.

"She's not the Sakura from _your_ universe, so she _shouldn't_ remember you!" Tomoyo shouted, "You're just some sort of zombie Clow Reed brought back to use as some pawn!"

"Oh, how hurtful!" Kaho pretended to be shocked, "Now, who could've told you something so heinous? Surely not one of Clow's followers?"

"They're not _his_ followers," Tomoyo gritted, "He's just using them!"

"Believe what you want," Kaho smirked, "But one thing doesn't change. Sakura's captured all of his followers, and now we can determine if she's worthy to be his successor."

She stepped to the side, and Sakura saw a silver-haired figured in the distance, lying unconscious on the ground. A cage appeared behind them, and it appeared to have someone inside.

"WHAT IS THIS, YOU BITCH?!" the young man inside cried, "LET US GO, AND GET YOUR PAWS OFF OF YUKI!"

Sakura realized who they were.

"BIG BROTHER! YUKITO!" she cried. She ran forward, but Tomoyo held her back, only because she didn't want Sakura getting hurt.

"Now…" Kaho said, lifting the unconscious Yukito into the air with her mysterious golden object with ribbons.

"With the Bell of the Moon and the Guardian of the Clow…"she smiled, "It's time to begin the final trial."


	23. Chapter 22: Judgement

AN: FINALLY, I'm AT THIS POINT! THANK YOU LAWD! The first half of the saga can end, but this fanfiction is far from over. Yue's outfit is really hard to describe. CURSE YOU YUE AND YOUR COMPLICATED FORM OF DRESS! Also, here. Have some more Soul Eater character moments.

* * *

"The 'Bell of the Moon' must be what's in her hands," Syaoran murmured to himself.

The supposed bell started to glow, and Kaho released it and Yukito, letting them float into the air. Yukito's chest started glowing, as if reacting to the bell. Suddenly, the bell fell to the ground with a clang, and Yukito grew angelic wings out of his back. They folded around him like a caterpillar in a caccoon, and the glowing became brighter.

Sakura could only watch anxiously until the wings unfolded, revealing a different person inside.

It was a very androgynous-looking man, with long white hair and ice-blue eyes. His clothes were white with blue accents, a sort of Chinese styled outfit with pants that stretched more like tights to his feet. They formed into a point, lying overtop his feet towards his middle toes on each foot. A large, dark blue and circular jewel rested at his sternum on his clothes. He had a long, white cloth draped over one of his shoulder, like a Roman Empire emperor.

While Sakura was somewhat terrified, she did find him to be very beautiful. The strange and beautiful angel flew over to her, staring at her intently.

"Who…who are you?" she asked.

His brow furrowed, and his eyes squinted at his.

"Yue…" Kero murmured, "So, you're…your temporary form _was_ in that boy."

"Very perceptive as always, Cerberus," he said, ice laced in every word he uttered. It sent shivers down Sakura's spine.

"Sakura…" Kero began, "This is Yue. The other Guardian of the Book of Clow. He was missing…he's the moon that would've been on the back of the book."

"But…but what happened to Yukito?!" she cried.

"Yukito?" Yue said, "Oh…I see…you mean my temporary form."

Sakura froze.

"You and Yukito…are the same person?" she shivered.

"But also not," he added.

Sakura fell to her knees. She didn't understand. Tomoyo was involved with Clow Reed in some way. And now, Yukito was too. She had hoped to keep him away from this mess, but he ended up being more involved than she thought.

"I've been sleeping within your beloved Yukito, waiting to see if you would be able to complete the final trial," Yue continued, "I am your judge, so to speak."

"What…what do I need to do?" she asked.

"You must defeat me. Convince me that you are worthy of being my master. Show me your mastery of magic. Show me your worthiness to use the Clow Cards. Once that happens, I will grant you whatever you desire. If you wish to be Clow's successor, I will give you the power to do so. If you wish to do as you please, you will become my and Cerberus's master."

Sakura started shaking. She had to defeat this form of Yukito's. She didn't want to hurt him. She could never. This was the boy she pined for since grade school. This was her brother's best friend.

"What a pitiful young child," Yue thought aloud, and he raised Sakura's chin so that their gazes met.

"You are the one who sealed the cards away all by yourself?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yukito…" she whispered, a pain rising in her chest.

Kero slid in between them.

"Sakura is perfectly capable!" he roared, "Get this trial over with!"

"Patience, Cerberus," he told the golden lion, "First…"

Yue motioned to Tomoyo to come to him. Tomoyo froze, somehow knowing what was coming.

"It is your duty to Clow Reed, Sealing Wand," he hissed, "Come here."

Tomoyo only gritted her teeth and glared in defiance.

"Make me."

"Very well," he sighed, and with a wave of his hand, she was sliding to him and under his arm. Tomoyo struggled in his tight embrace, like a rabbit in the coil of a snake.

"You can't…" she hissed out.

"You are part of this trial," he spat, "I have no weapon. This is your fate, Sealing Wand."

"I LOVE HER! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO THIS!"

"I'm sorry for your misguided emotions, but this love of yours needs to see Clow's true power, which _you_ possess."

Yue slammed his hand into her stomach and twisted.

"TOMOYO!" Sakura screamed.

Tomoyo's eyes rolled in the back of her head, as she screamed bloody murder. Her body twisted and contorted, glowing a golden light, instead of her usual pink.

Yue now had a bow and arrow on his person, with Tomoyo's weeping and distorted form crushed within with shape of the bow. Yue backed away and grabbed an arrow. It was a dirty gold color with red on the sharp metal tip, like blood.

"Let's begin, shall we?" Yue sneered, his eyes appearing more like ice blue cat eyes.

The arrow shot from the bow, and soon multiple arrows appeared all shooting at once. Sakura braced herself, but someone grabbed her, shielding her with their body. It was Syaoran.

"NO DON'T!" she shrieked, but his body turned silver, and the arrows banged against him, like hail on a tin roof. As more arrows came, Sakura drew a card.

"_SHIELD!_"

The winged, metal plate came out, created a large casing around everyone. Syaoran didn't let go until the arrows stopped and SHIELD disappeared.

"Where did you learn…?" Sakura began, when she looked up at Syaoran as he slowly turned to normal again.

"Just…something new," he sighed, giving a nervous chuckle.

"You scared me."

"Sorry."

Sakura hugged him quickly and got up.

"Hey, Meiling, you don't mind if I borrow your cousin a while longer?" she asked.

"Sure," Meiling smirked, "Go kick that guy's ass."

Sakura grabbed Syaoran's hand, and he transformed into his weapon form.

"_Soul of Metal, bend to my will. Create a new shape, that I may cut down adversity. Grant me your power! RELEASE!_"

With their souls in perfect resonance, Syaoran morphed from a sword into a scythe, with warm greens and silvers. A warm, reddish-brown eye appeared at the top near the silver scythe blade. It was a form that was similar to what Maka and Soul had told them about on separate occasions.

Despite being visibly nervous and shaking, Sakura posed ready to fight, determination shining on her face.

"We _shall_ begin, Yue," Sakura called out, "And if I can defeat you, you will let my best friend go!"

Yue looked surprised at this sudden show of bravery from the young lady, but then he smiled, a smug look in his eyes.

"Very well."

* * *

Yuuko had the Book of Clow in her office now, thanks to Sakura's generosity, and she kept studying it, trying to form lesson plans for the young witch. It was difficult, for the second half of the book was blank. She took another puff of her pipe in frustration.

"Why is the book not complete?" a voice asked at the door. It was Dr. Stein.

"It's because the poor girl doesn't have all of the cards. All there is so far are descriptions of each card, but they talk less about what spells to do with them, and more about their personalities and basic things."

"Odd," Stein inspected, "I was expecting something more cryptic from this Clow Reed. That handwriting is very feminine, actually. You sure he wrote this thing?"

"Very perceptive of you, Stein," she blinked, "I noticed it too. No, I don't believe he wrote it."

"You know who it is," he stated. At this, Yuuko froze.

"You are incredibly perceptive," she smiled.

"I believe, she's out going to save her previous weapon, from what I heard."

"Yes. Clow Reed's right-hand woman took Tomoyo. The time for Sakura's final trial is coming."

"What is this final trial?"

"That is one of the things I don't know."

At this, the book began to glow, and Yuuko and Stein immediately turned to it. Marie was coming to the office.

"I brought COFFEEEeeeeuuwwww what is happening…"

The pages began flipping in an invisible breeze, and a magic circle appeared. It was pink now, with markings similar to Clow Reed's, but instead of a sun, a five-pointed star was in its place, with a sun to its left and a crescent moon on its right.

When the pages stilled, the three adults saw new writing had appeared. Yuuko flipped through more of the book to see that all of the pages were now filled. When she got to the back flyleaf, it was as if an invisible hand and pen were writing something.

_Go to the Desert._

_The Trial is at hand._

_ Get the Others._

Yuuko seemed to immediately understand, as the message faded away, and Yuuko slammed the book shut. She got up and grabbed the coffee from Marie, adding her creamer, and chugging it down with such force that Marie and Stein couldn't help but stare. Yuuko slammed the mug down and grabbed the book.

"Get Maka, Soul, and the other," she ordered, "We need to get to the desert. I'll lead the way."

"What…what's going on?" Marie stammered, as Stein grabbed his coffee, sipping it lazily.

"Sakura needs this book," Yuuko said sternly, "We need to get out to the desert."

Everyone ran out and searched for the other teachers.

* * *

"DID MS. YUUKO SAY WHERE THIS TEAR THING WAS?!" Maka shouted to her husband over the motor of the motorcycle and the sand splaying everywhere. The couple wore sand goggles and cloaks due to the strong winds.

"I DON'T THINK SO!" Soul shouted back, "SHE SAID TO LOOK FOR HER WHEN WE GOT IN THE DESERT OUT A LITTLE WAYS. I STILL DON'T SEE HER!"

"KEEP LOOKING! SHE'S GOTTA BE…LOOK! OVER THERE!"

Soul turned his head and saw a giant butterfly made of fabric hovering in the sky.

"THINK THAT'S HER!" Soul shouted.

"OKAY, GUYS!" Maka called to the others behind her, "THE TEAR THING IS THIS WAY! LET'S GO!"

Black«Star and Tsubaki rode in a big Jeep behind them. Lord Death, Liz, Patti, Stein, and Marie were all crammed in the jeep as well. They all wore similar cloaks and sand goggles.

"WHEEE! ROAD TRIP! ROAD TRIP! ROAD TRIP!" Patti cheered.

"Patti, please sit down," Liz whined, "There's not enough room in this thing!"

"THIS IS THE BEST SAND DRIVING DEVICE THE GREAT **BLACK****«****STAR** COULD _EVER_ BRING FOR THIS ADVENTURE!" Black«Star shouted in triumph.

"Honey, please settle down," Tsubaki whimpered nervously as the Jeep shook with every movement people made.

"If I'd known _this_ was what we were taking, I would've brought Beelzebub," Lord Death groaned, "But no, you insisted I neglect my skateboard and ride in this rickety piece of desert junk!"

"IT'S NOT JUNK!" Black«Star hollered, "YOU PILE OF SHIT YOU CALL A DEATH GOD!"

The Jeep started swerving in the sand, with everyone screaming and yelling, and Patti giggled and laughed the whole ride.

Maka immediately thanked Soul for bringing the motorcycle _and _the sand tires. He nodded in agreement.

* * *

Sakura was hopping from tiled pillar to tiled pillar using JUMP, as Yue continued to shoot macabre-looking arrows at the meister and weapon pair. Meiling and Kero had already gotten to an area away from the trail at hand.

"Sakura, you need to fight back and attack him!" Syaoran begged, his human self reflecting in the scythe's blade, "You'll lose if you don't do something."

"But, he's still technically Yukito!" Sakura cried, "I can't hurt him!"

Sakura found an area to hide and ducked in.

She panted before settling down and trying to think of a strategy.

"What card can I use without attacking?" she thought aloud. She immediately thought of WINDY and dug it out of the holster.

Something had changed. Clow's magic circle was no longer on the card. It was the magic circle with the five-pointed star. The cards were also pink, instead of red and orange. Regardless, Sakura stepped out, card in hand.

"_WINDY!_"

Nothing happened.

Sakura shouted it again.

Nothing happened.

Sakura was now terrified. She was able to use JUMP before, and it didn't look different like this card did. She pulled the other cards out. They were now all pink with the new magic circle on the back, except for The VOID.

"What's going on?" she stuttered, as Yue appeared before her.

"Something wrong, child?" he asked. He looked down at the cards in her hand. He eyes widened.

"What have you done…?"

"I…I didn't…"

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

He grabbed an arrow, and holding it like a spear, he struck down. Before it did any damage, Syaoran already slapped it out of Yue's hand, his arm now with a grown out blade. He pointed it at Yue's throat.

"Don't you dare touch my meister!" he hissed.

What has your meister DONE TO CLOW'S CARDS?!"

Syaoran turned to see a distraught Sakura, with now pink cards in her hand.

"I…I didn't do anything! I can't…I can't use them," she choked.

Sweating nervously, Syaoran held out his hand.

"I guess we'll have to show him our weapon and meister skills instead," he assured her.

Sakura didn't want to fight this version of Yukito like this. However, she didn't have very many options. Syaoran formed into his weapon form. With the spell she knew that worked, Sakura turned Syaoran into a scythe once again. She swung the blade towards Yue.

Yue twisted the bow in his hand and it formed a scythe as well, with Tomoyo's voice screaming in agony. He blocked Sakura's attack, and soon they were in hand-to-hand combat.

Pillar to pillar, they twirled and thrashed in a nerve-racking dance of who was the better fighter. It was clear that Sakura had more practice with wielding a weapon, but Yue was quick, dodging any attempts she made to knock Tomoyo's tortured weapon form out of the demonic angel's hands.

And then got distracted. She wasn't sure what it was. It happened too quickly. However, now Syaoran's scythe form flung away into the air, and Sakura at a blade to her face, as she sat defensively on the ground.

Tomoyo's screaming form morphed back into the bow and arrows, and Yue aimed an arrow for Sakura's heart.

"The trial is over, child," Yue burned into her. The arrow shot out.

Tomoyo, fighting against her imprisoned state, leaped in front of the arrow.

Puncturing through her stomach, the arrow soon disappeared when the damage was done. Blood spilled from Tomoyo's mouth and she collapsed.

* * *

Sakura's dream…no, her nightmare was before her eyes. However, Tomoyo's eyes were fighting to stay open, as Sakura sobbed her name over and over like a chant. Blood was escaping from the wound, some of it pooling on the ground. Sakura didn't know someone could bleed this much. Not know what to do, she took her hat and pressed it over the wound, hoping to clot it.

"Sa…ku…" Tomoyo choked through the blood.

"DON'T TALK, TOMOYO," Sakura panicked, "YOU'RE BLEEDING!"

"You'll…get blood…on th'outfit…" she chuckled before coughing out more blood.

"PLEASE DON'T TALK TOMOYO!"

"Sa…kura…don…don't…cry."

This only made Sakura sob more. Yue stared down at them like they were ants.

"Pity," he sighed, "She wasn't as powerful as I hoped. Just a useless weapon, like all the rest."

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!" Sakura screeched. Yue's brows furrowed.

"Cerberus, I need you," he commanded.

The winged lion looked up in surprise.

"What are you…"

With a wave of his hand, Kero's body morphed to Yue in a golden line, serpentine. It was then that Sakura saw it. Hearing Kero roaring in pain, the Creature of the Seal was now the golden scythe from her dream.

"Unlike that girl, I'm able to get this one to work without protest," he told her, "It's easier when you're morphing creatures that aren't for themselves."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Kero roared, "STOP THIS!"

"The trial is over," Yue spat, "She must die."

The blade came down.

And then a snap.

A cloth wrapped around the golden sickle of death. Looking back, a frighteningly angry Yuuko Ichhara yanked the scythe away, and released Kero as the winged lion he was before.

"YOU BASTAAAARD!"

Maka flew at Yue with a black scythe clutched in her hands. It had a wing on the end, and the blade looked like piano keys, curling into the shape of the scythe blade. She slammed into Yue, and using Soul, she flung him aross the room and into one of the taller tiled pillars.

Soul morphed out of his piano scythe form and bent over to check on Tomoyo.

"You're stopping the blood," he murmured, "Good. That's a good start. We'll take her from here. We've got a doctor."

Stein and Marie waved from a distance.

"Is she going to be okay?!" Sakura begged, and Maka bent low and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She'll be fine," she assured, "We're not letting one of our students die."

Yuuko glided to Sakura, with the Book of Clow in her hand.

"You'll need this," Yuuko told her, "It now has more pages. There may be something that can help you."

Sakura looked up hopefully and grabbed the book. She flipped through it frantically. Soul and Maka carried Tomoyo off to Stein.

"Something went wrong, I assume," Yuuko stated.

"Yes," Sakura stammered, "The cards all changed, except for VOID. I don't know what happened, but I can't use them!"

"You can't use them with your weapon partner."

"Right."

"So you need a different kind of weapon. One that can be used with the cards."

"Ye…wait what?"

"I saw this page here."

Yuuko flipped to the center of the book. There was a drawing of the magic circle that was on the back of the pink cards.

"This is the older Sakura's magic circle," Yuuko told her, "So, the cards aren't responding to you because the weapon you're using isn't designed for them."

"But…that makes no sense!" Sakura cried, "Meiling and Syaoran…"

"…are descendents of Clow Reed. They can use Clow's magic. Tomoyo was a weapon created by Clow, so she could be used. Now the cards don't adhere to Clow's magic. Instead, they respond to Sakura's magic."

Sakura was fighting back tears. She didn't know anyone that could use magic like that except the older Sakura, and she was dead or at least trapped in a tree in front of some guy's shop.

"Turn the page," Yuuko smiled.

Sakura looked doubtful, but she obeyed.

The page read _Weapon of the Soul_. It illustrated a picture that looked like her reaching into her chest and pulling out a sword as an example. It read.

_To my New Self,_

_ At the time you're reading this, the Clow Cards no longer respond to Clow's magic. Please don't be frightened. This means they now have two new masters: You and I._

Sakura's doubt was replaced with curiosity, and she kept reading.

_Before you were born, I met you. Your soul is very similar to mine. Attached to it is a weapon of my own. I used it for magic when I was young. With this, you will be able to use the cards again. You were meant to have powers similar to mine, and they will be unique to your own soul, but I hope that with this new Sealing Wand, that is now yours, you will follow the light of your own star. _

_ It does not turn into a human like many of your companions. It is an object, but a very powerful one. Treat it with care. You will still be able to have a weapon partner, even with this new tool at your disposal. It cannot reap souls like weapons in your world can._

_ To obtain the Star Sealing Wand, place a hand over your heart…_

Sakura did so. Yuuko held the book.

_Chant this spell…_

"_I call upon the power of my own Star. Light my way and grant me power. I, Sakura, swear to banish darkness and adversity with love, strength and courage. With this, I make a new contract! Come forth, O Star! RELEASE!_"

With this, a light burst from Sakura's chest. Sakura stared at it, not knowing what to do.

"Sakura!" Yuuko shouted, "Reach into the light and grab the staff!"

Sakura obeyed, putting her hand into the light in her chest. It was as if a hole was in her: an endless black hole. Then she felt something long and metallic and grabbed it.

It was painful. She felt as if her heart was slowly being ripped out of her chest, but she kept pulling.

Syaoran awoke in his human form, far away from this, and he looked to see what was going on.

Sakura continued to pull the metal object from her chest. It was arduous, and Sakura felt like all of the blood left her head. She continued to pull until finally the Star Sealing Wand was in her grasp.

It was pink, like the previous Sealing Wand, Tomoyo's original weapon form, and it had a gold and red jewel pointed end on the bottom. However, the top was a pink right sitting upright with tiny white wings on wither side of it. In the center of the ring was a gold, five-pointed star, its points each touching an edge of the pink ring. A red, round jewel was in the gold mast that held both the top and the staff together.

Sakura stared at it, awestruck. Yuuko smiled. Everyone stared in awe.

Everyone, except for Yue, who soon was on his feet again. He flew towards Sakura with great speed. She pulled out the card she intended to use before.

"_WINDY!_"

The spirit came out and wrapped itself around Yue, like chains. As much as he struggled, he couldn't break free. Sakura came towards him.

"I beat you," she said sternly.

"The trial ended," he gritted.

"I still beat you," she smiled.

At this, Yue let out a sigh.

"I suppose I should grant your desire now. So…have at it. What does a child like you desire?"

Sakura paused before she began speaking.

"You hurt my friend. I know it's part of what she's supposed to do, but you still hurt her. You may have been doing what your master commanded, but that doesn't make it right."

Yue was silent.

"Do you like being ruled by Clow Reed?"

"I am a tool for his gain. I have no room for 'liking' anything. He tells me to do things, and I obey. That's how it works."

"Hmmm…well, then I guess what I want is…to work together with me. I know I don't seem…well, I know I'm not the strongest witch ever. I've still got things I need to learn, but…I know I'll get better. I don't want you to feel like you're obligated to do things for me. You're not a tool for anyone's gain. Yukito was never that way for me, and…I don't think you're that way either. If I'm going to be your master of some sort, I don't want you to be a 'something.' You're a 'someone', and I think we can work together."

He frowned. This wasn't what he was expecting. He expected rage. He expected her to kill him in a matter of senses. A mutual partnership seemed unheard of. He and Cerberus were creations used for people's gain, and this girl wanted him to be her…comrade of sorts. As bizarre as it seemed, it enticed him a little. His soul seemed drawn to this kindness in some way.

Yue stood up.

"Close your eyes."

"Huh?"

"Just…close your eyes."

Sakura obeyed.

"_As the Guardian of the Cards, I recognize you as their true master. You are a friend to everyone around you, and your kindness will shape a new future. You have passed the final trial._"

Clow's magic circle appeared below him and Kero, and it faded away to be replaced with Sakura's magic circle.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Kaho cried, fighting Black«Star's grasp, "GUARDIAN OF CLOW, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

"She has passed," Yue stated.

"YOU ARE CLOW'S CREATION!"

"And now, I am her master. Be gone, Kaho. You need to return to him."

Screaming in rage, she kicked Black«Star in the crotch before taking the Bell of the Moon and disappearing with a wave of her hand. Tsubaki let Touya out of his cage and quickly rushed over to a hunched over Black«Star.

Suddenly, the strange dimension began to shake. The pillars began to crumble into tiled messes into the darkness below.

With swift movements, everyone gathered together before escaping through the rip from which they entered.


	24. Chapter 23: Choice

AN: Let's get a smooth transition into the next part. Some things need explaining, right?

* * *

Sakura was a sobbing mess when Tomoyo finally woke up. She now had small stitches near her stomach and on a lover part of her back, thanks to Stein meticulous handiwork. He told her that she needed a week or two for it to heal, and Meiling volunteered to bring her any missing homework and class work. Syaoran took good notes, so he promised to make copies for her as study material.

The Star Wand, as Sakura now called it, seemed to transform into a sort of miniature size once the trial had ended. The main golden star with the ring and little wings remained the same in its smaller state, but the bottom half now looked like a key. Sakura saw that she could put a chain through the shrunken trinket and wore it around her neck, like a new piece of jewelry.

The teachers didn't know what they were going to do. Sakura had a new "weapon" of sorts. Tsubaki questioned on whether she really needed a partner now.

"She's still a meister!" Maka argued, "Of course, she can still have a partner!"

"But, at the same time, she's a special witch that needs to use this special scepter in order to fight!" Tsubaki shook her head, "This is a difficult situation. She needs to learn how to master her witch powers, right? A weapon partner would be good for that, but now she can't use a weapon partner to perform magic!"

Everyone was split on the issue. Yuuko remained silent, thinking as she carefully read pages of the newly formed Book of Clow. She closed the book and finally spoke.

"There will be new followers to come," she said in a serious tone. Everyone turned to her.

"New followers?" Soul asked, "Like…more of these spirit things?"

"No," she answered, "Now, that the spirits of Clow, now the Clow Cards, are out of Clow Reed's hold, he'll turn to the people of this world. Despite capturing these souls, he will find a way to recruit new souls for his biding. I believe your world calls them 'kishin,' correct?"

Everyone seemed to immediately understand. It would now be like Kishin Asura and his many followers. A new type of madness would reign, and they would have to prepare the students.

"Just like old times, huh?" Black«Star muttered.

"There's one other thing," Maka wondered out loud, "It's been said that Sakura has a new objective with these Clow Cards. What is it, exactly?"

Yuuko smiled a little and got up.

"We will need to go over to Sakura and the others to explain this."

* * *

She was resting her head on Tomoyo's bed, as the young weapon girl did her schoolwork. Syaoran, Meiling, Kero, Touya, and a sleeping Yukito were in the small hospital-like room as well.

"She hasn't left your side for a few days," Syaoran sighed, addressing Tomoyo.

"I noticed," she chuckled sadly, "The poor thing…she's exhausted."

"So…what happens now?" Touya grunted, Yukito propped up next to him on the room's couch.

"We're waiting for Sakura's teachers to give us some answers," Kero replied, "I'm not even so sure myself."

The door to the room opened, and everyone turned. Yukito grew wings once again, turning into Yue.

"Shit…" Touya groaned, "Not again…"

Everyone crammed into the room with foldout chairs and sat in a huddle. Tomoyo shook Sakura's shoulder a little, and the young meister jolted up, drool coming down from the corner of her mouth.

"Whu…Wah…" she mumbled.

"Yuuko and the others are here to talk to us," Tomoyo told her.

Sakura sat up straight, wiping drool off her chin and mouth.

"All of you children will be given an objective starting today," Maka addressed, "I've already spoken with Lord Death, and it's been agreed that all of the students here will be fighting to gather misguided souls that follow Clow Reed."

Everyone listened intently.

"When the teachers and I were younger, souls that followed the path of evil were called kishin. Some of them followed the demon god, Asura, who was defeated long ago. However, Clow Reed is now fulfilling this role now in our current situation. Many evil souls will appear in all parts of the world, and you as students of the DWMA will eradicate them. If they are red, which mostly likely they will be, weapon partners will be allowed to consume these evil souls as…a sort of power boost. We required each student to capture 99 of these souls and a witch's soul to become a weapon for Lord Death in the past. However, due to a new contract with the witch's domain, that is no longer a practice.

"Instead, Lord Death will track these souls and place them up on a board in the main hall. These will be missions for all of you. You will pick one at a time, as you are able, and complete each mission in full. Some may take a few hours of your day. Some may take days or weeks. Whichever the case, this is what we ask of every student here, not just Sakura. She will do this as well as her main objective."

Once Maka finished, she sat down. She grabbed Soul's hand, and their fingers interlaced.

"What exactly _is_ my master's main objective?" Yue asked sternly. This was when Yuuko stood up and sat near Sakura.

"Sakura's objective is to set free all of the souls in the Clow Cards, separating the soul that is inside each one and absorbing the power that is attached," Yuuko said clearly. Yue was livid.

"That…" he gritted through his teeth.

"Do you even know what those souls are?" Yuuko snapped at him, and he went silent. He shook his head.

"They are soul…innocent ones, spliced apart and put back together with magic," Yuuko explained, "Clow Reed has manipulated the souls of the dead in order to create this form of magic. With my guidance and the new instructions in the Book of Clow, Sakura will split the soul and magic contained into two separate parts, releasing each soul to find its resting place. That is what the Star Wand is for."

Everyone was pale at this. The idea that innocent souls were captured like this especially made the teachers nauseous. Yuuko continued.

"Absorbing this power, Sakura will be able to grow powerful enough to stop Clow Reed. However, there is a price she must pay, and the DWMA staff know this well."

"Madness," Stein said under his breath.

"Yes," Yuuko went on, "Sakura…your power will grow, but each bit that you take in will wear down your mental state. This is where a weapon partner, and at the very least all of your friends and family, will be very important. As I understand it, you have an Anti-demon Wavelength. That's good. It will help keep whatever madness stems in you at bay. It will be more effective, however, when you resonate with a partner."

Sakura remembered a lesson Maka gave. In soul resonance, a meister sends soul waves to the weapon, and the weapon amplifies them back. It was like an amplifier for an electric guitar. So, even with this Star Wand she obtained, she would still have a partner.

"I'll…still be a meister?" she asked.

"Of course, dear," Yuuko smiled gently. Tomoyo and Syaoran seemed to both show signs of relief. They were still needed after all.

"When fighting kishin, your resonance will grow, and with that bond, your power will grow," Yuuko continued, "It's important that you have a partner. Who that partner is…that's for you to decide. Please know, however, that your teachers and I will help you all with every step."

"I have a question," Sakura interrupted. Yuuko gave a nod and listened.

"Are…Kero and Yue weapons as well?"

Everyone seemed shocked at the idea.

"Well, I've had that dream where Tomoyo dies and there's a hole in my chest, and a golden scythe comes come to strike me and Ms. Albarn. However, the older version of me stopped it in a new version of this dream, and she shouted Kero's name, as the scythe turned into something. I couldn't see want it was. And Yukito's said that he has a weapon form, but it's a shield or something."

"That was indeed Cerberus," Yuuko nodded, "And Yukito's weapon form is the same as Yue's"

The two beings stared at each other and then back at Yuuko, who led Sakura away from Tomoyo's hospital bed.

"Come here and hold your master's hands," Yuuko instructed. Kero and Yue obeyed, each placing a hand, or paw in Kero's case, in each of Sakura's two hands.

"Mrs. Nakatsukasa?" Yuuko asked, as Tsubaki stood up, "I believe you specialize in this, yes?"

Immediately understanding what Yuuko was asking, she walked over to Sakura and the two creatures. She instructed them.

"Close your eyes."

Kero and Yue obeyed.

"Feel your soul wavelength. Let a picture form in your mind. Focus your soul wavelength on that picture…"

As they followed her instructions, the two creatures twisted and morphed. Kero glowed gold where as Yue glowed silver, and they transformed before everyone's eyes.

Kero was now, instead of being a golden scythe as expected, a golden spear, like one used by a Roman soldier. Yue was now a silver and blue shield, that sat comfortably on Sakura's arm. Everyone sat there, awestruck.

"It seems you will have three weapon partners from now on," Yuuko smirked.

"Three?" Sakura enquired.

"Kero, Yue, and of course, your student partner," Yuuko chirped.

"Is that allowed?" Tomoyo blurted out.

"These two beings deem Sakura as their master, so really, it can't be helped," Yuuko shrugged, "They will be with her, whether she's allowed to have three partners or not."

"I'll have to talk to Kid again," Maka sighed heavily.

"Now, Sakura, who will be your student partner?" Yuuko asked, smiling.

Sakura felt everyone's eyes on her. The weight around her felt heavy. She let go of Kero and Yue, who transformed back into their true selves. She looked at Tomoyo…then Syaoran.

"I…uh…I need…INEEDTOTHINKEXCUSEME!" she stammered, and she ran out the door. Maka was about to follow her, but Yuuko stopped her.

"She'll be back," she assured.

Syaoran walked out of the room as well.

* * *

Sakura stood at a balcony, looking over Death City. She was lost. She had all of this responsibility now, and she didn't know which weapon she would be relying on more. She heard footstep behind her and turned.

"Something told me you'd be up here," Syaoran sighed, as he came over and leaned on the balcony next to Sakura.

"Why did you follow me?" she asked.

"Figured you'd need someone to talk to…sort out your thoughts."

Sakura nodded.

"Tell me what you're thinking."

"I thought…I'd be Tomoyo's mister again soon after, and I'd graduate out of here with all of this stuff behind me. I see now that's not happening. When she said I could choose which partner, I was sure I'd want to partner back with Tomoyo again, but…"

There was a long pause.

"I just…I don't want her to get hurt again because of me. I also don't want to see you hurt either. It's all so…I feel comfortable with _both_ of you, and I don't know really if I could choose one or the other."

Syaoran nodded. As badly as he wanted to stay Sakura's partner, he also wanted what was best for her, which was something he couldn't decide. He patted her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"You need to do what feels right to you. Calm yourself for a bit and just think. Weigh your options. When you've decided, we'll be waiting for you, okay?"

Sakura nodded.

"I've enjoyed being your weapon. Even if we get paired up differently this time around, I just…wanted you to know that. I hope that…you've enjoyed being my meister."

With that, Syaoran left. Sakura looked at the drowsy, setting sun then closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and cleared her head. Suddenly, he realized what she wanted to do.

* * *

"I'll keep being Syaoran's meister," Sakura answered when she came back, "I know it sounds weird, but…seeing as we're already moved in and we work so well together, I think that's what I'll do."

The teachers approved and started filing out of the room. Only Yuuko stayed behind.

"Well, I guess that saves us from moving boxes again," shrugged Meiling.

Tomoyo smiled happily as Syaoran only sat there, stunned and flushed red.

"Remind me when I leave here to sew you a new uniform," Tomoyo told Sakura.

"New uniform?"

"Of course! Your old uniform is ruined, and we can wear whatever we want, so I'll make you a new outfit!"

"Is that all you ever think about?" Meiling shook her head.

"That and things I don't want to share in public," Tomoyo shrugged. Yuuko giggled as everyone blushed.

"Then, we'll just make your living arrangements permanent," Yuuko nodded, "I'll take this book and start making lesson plans. When I'm done, Sakura, you can have it back."

With that, Yuuko left the room. Sakura went over to Tomoyo's bedside.

"I'm…sorry, Tomoyo," Sakura mumbled, "I know I said we'd be partners forever in the beginning of all this, and…"

Tomoyo put a finger to her friend's lips.

"It's fine, Sakura," she assured. Sakura didn't look convinced.

"You're still my best friend in the whole wide world, whether I'm your weapon or not," Tomoyo told her, "Are you happy with your choice?"

Sakura looked over at Syaoran, who was still red faced, but he smiled a little at her, his cheeks dimming down a bit. She smiled back.

"Yeah…" she answered, "I'm…actually _very_ happy."

"Then, so am I," Tomoyo beamed, "And, that's all I need."

* * *

Eventually, Sakura stopped sleeping by Tomoyo's bedside, due to her friend's insistence that she get a good night's rest. Sakura soon began her private lessons with Yuuko and got the Book of Clow back. She and Syaoran started being in the same class, along with Tomoyo and Meiling.

And then they came. Madness grew like a plague over the globe. Kishin formed, chanting unknown ciphers or just Clow Reed's name in praise. As the numbers grew, so did the number of DWMA students. The school was in full capacity now, and so was Lord Death's new list.


	25. Chapter 24: Child

AN: Less of a chapter and…more of a segway.

* * *

Time passed, as the group grew stronger. Maka no longer had that scary dream. However, she did start dreaming about Crona again.

The non-binary human floated in front of her, like a ghost. Their eyes were blank, but eventually Crona's dead face curled into a warm smile. A slit formed on their head, opening into an eye. Everything glowed white instead of black now, and Sakura awoke to the sound of a cranky baby.

* * *

It was the middle of the night, and after nine months of puking, and binge eating, and a growing bellies, a baby girl was introduced to the Albarn-Evans family. This baby girl also liked to cry because of a dirty diaper, and Maka slammed a pillow on her face in a groan.

"Makaaaa," her shark-toothed husband mumbled, "Your turn."

"Nuuuuuuuuuuuuu…" she whined, as she sat up. Putting on her game face, she raced to the baby's room.

"It's okay, Angel!" she cooed, "Mommy's here! OH! Oh…you've left me a present. How…thoughtful."

The crying calmed to a low burbling as Maka quickly changed the girl's diaper. She rocked the small child a few times, and it fell quickly back to sleep.

Maka fell onto the bed, which woke the new father up a little.

"Hey, Soul?" she murmured.

"What," he groaned.

"No more carrots at dinnertime," she instructed, "I think that's what's making her poop so bad."

"Sounds great," he mumbled into the pillow, "Wanna know what else is great?"

"What's that?"

"Sleeping."

"Agreed."

Maka drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Morning hit them like a train, as Soul made the both of them coffee. Angel was sitting in Maka's lap, as she fed the tiny newborn girl her bottle. As soon as she finished giving the little tyke a burp, Maka finally took a sip of coffee.

"So…it's carrots…" Soul muttered, "Figures…I never did well with carrots either. That's what my brother tells me."

"Yeah, and she seems to cry for food around five, so that will be her dinnertime, instead of six," Maka planned out, half awake, "We can eat dinner after she's done. I figured out that much…and it's only taken me two weeks? I feel like fucking Einstein."

"Hey now, what your language in front of the baby," Soul teased. Maka stuck her tongue out at him, knowing she said that to _him_ before.

"Thank Death he gave me this paid maternity leave," Maka sighed, "Quite a miracle, considering what the rest of the country does."

Soul nodded. Teaching wasn't a huge income for them, and they needed a jumpstart while they were taking care of the baby. Soul was able to go out and teach while Maka recuperated. As much as she wanted to go back and teach, prove that she didn't need special treatment as a woman or a mother, giving birth proved to be exhausting, considering how tiny she actually was. She tried going back the first week, but she ended up passing out.

"How's the Star team doing?" Maka asked. She surprisingly wasn't referring to Black«Star and Tsubaki, but to Sakura and her friends. It was their nickname she gave them.

"They're doing great, actually," Soul told her. He pulled out his teacher file as he munched on his cereal. Maka trotted over to Angel's baby carrier, and placed her inside. Placing the carrier on the chair next to her, she rocked it and listen to her hubby tell her what was happening at DWMA.

"Sakura's grades are improving a little," he began, "No more Cs. Meiling isn't improving as quickly, but she's getting more Bs in her classes. Syaoran and Tomoyo are the same as usual, the overachiever and Little Ms. Prodigy.

"They're doing well catching souls. Sakura and Syaoran have punched in that they caught ten kishin souls. Meiling and Tomoyo have caught eight."

"Pretty good for nine months and two weeks," Maka nodded, "And this is the first time the academy's done this since Kishin Asura, so…this is great. How're the other kids doing?"

Soul gave reports on the souls collected from each pair of kids. He shared stories he heard, funny classroom incidents, and what the other teachers were up to. Maka smiled and laughed quietly so as to not wake up Angel. However, one story had Maka in stitches, and she laughed louder than she should have.

Strangely, Angel didn't stir. Checking to make sure she wasn't dead, Maka saw the little baby sleeping soundly.

"Huh…she sleeps like you, Soul," Maka smirked. They both laughed at this, as the baby slept peacefully.

They agreed to have Maka come back to teaching next week. The new mother was going to keep teaching, even if she had to carry the baby in a sling down the hall, such was the ways of the stubborn Maka Albarn.

* * *

Despite some staring, Maka did surprisingly well. The baby was surprisingly well behaved, living up to her namesake. Many of the girls and a few boys would come and hold Angel.

Sakura was one of the few that did it every time the baby was in class. The baby seemed to like her the most, aside from her own parents of course. After a while, Sakura became the Albarn-Evans babysitter.

* * *

Sakura buttoned the last button down on her white dress shirt was a flared collar and tucked it in her pink, pleated skirt. Pulling a black, V-neck sweater over her head, she brushed everything down on her uniform and checked everything in the mirror. A pink cherry blossom patch was placed on the right side of the sweater.

She turned around. Sakura loved her new uniform so much that Tomoyo sized it or made new piece anytime she grew. Her figure seemed to change a lot over the time she was reaping kishin souls. Her hips were wider, her legs were longer, and her chest was only slightly more pronounced. She was well endowed like Tomoyo was, but they were still noticeable.

"Sakura? Breakfast is ready!" Syaoran called from the kitchen.

"Be right there!" she called back.

She took one last look in the mirror. She was sixteen now. It was April 1st, and she felt like she was glowing. She fixed up her still-short-as-ever auburn hair, which still had a piece of hair standing up like some sort of cowlick. With a smile glued on her face, she skipped out the door to be greeted with a full birthday pancake breakfast.

**End of ACT 1.**


End file.
